


Five's Company

by ImperialKatwala



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Puns, Baking, Five people one body let's go, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, I didn't mean for Lira to break so many rules she just kinda did it, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm sorry Ebony, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not too much angst hopefully, Puzzles, We're finally out of the Ruins!!, lots of running, time for some more Plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 57,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25061356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialKatwala/pseuds/ImperialKatwala
Summary: A human will always fall into Mount Ebott. That's just how the story goes. But who says it always has to be Frisk? And who says they have to be alone?
Relationships: Original Female Character(s) & Original Female Character(s), Papyrus (Undertale) & Original Character(s), Sans (Undertale) & Original Character(s), Toriel (Undertale) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	1. Falling and Rising

**Author's Note:**

> I started this fic four years ago, and honestly I forgot about it for a while, but I came back to it because I really love the idea and the dynamic of the characters. Basically, this is me shoving five of my characters from elsewhere into the same body and dropping them into Undertale to see how they would react. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!  
> Sorry for the length of this first chapter; I couldn't find a good spot to break it up into more manageable chunks, so I'm just using my original chapter divisions from the Word document. Having said that, I have no idea how long this fic will be! It's not finished yet, I'm only up to chapter seven.  
> Also: This is not intended to be an accurate depiction of DID or anything similar, it's just me having fun.

It was warm. Something was gently tickling my face… Grass? It smelled like grass. I slowly opened my eyes.

Sunlight filtered down onto golden flowers, making them almost glow. It was so calm and peaceful. The warmth made me feel fuzzy and sleepy and maybe I could just lay here and close my eyes again and -…

_LIRA!_

I made a little huffing noise. So rude. _You don't have to shout. I can hear you._

 _Don't you remember what_ happened _??? I think I have a right to be shouting when you NEARLY DIE THEN DECIDE TO GO BACK TO SLEEP!!!!_

_I'm with Ebony on this one, Ly._

Frowning, I sat up, wincing at the sudden pain in my right leg, head, and ribs. Okay… so what was making them so upset with me? What did I do this time?

There was a sigh. _Guys. Head injury. Ly, do you remember anything?_

_Well, I know who you guys are and I know who I am… The last thing I remember is climbing up that mountain._

Everyone was quiet for a moment. The mountain I was referring to was called Mount Ebott, a place it was said people never came back from. And we all knew I hadn't been climbing the mountain for happy reasons.

... _Well, you climbed up the mountain, and there was a cave…_

I brightened. _A cave? Was there something cool inside?_

 _You tripped and fell into a huge hole that led to whatever this place is,_ Ebony huffed.

 _...Oh. Maybe this place is the something cool inside! Maybe there's treasure or something down here!_ I slowly stood up, ignoring the way my leg screamed in protest.

_I'd settle for a way out of here, honestly. Look up._

I did so, and instantly wished I hadn't. All I could see of the sky was a tiny sliver of blue far, far, _far_ above me. There was absolutely no way I could get out the way I came.

 _A way out sounds nice,_ I admitted. _Guys, my leg is really hurting._

_I am almost certain it is not broken._

_We'll find a splint or crutch or something, Ly. There's got to be something useful around here…_

I noticed a stick lying next to me. _Hey look, a stick! You can do cool things with sticks! Like make a basket, or a shelter, or..._

_Or a splint! Okay, I've seen this on TV a hundred times. Tear off a strip of your shirt and use it to tie the stick to your leg._

_Spark, you sure that will work?_

_It works on TV._

_She has a point, Adva._ I grabbed the hem of my t-shirt and gave a sharp tug. Nothing happened. I tugged twice more and didn't so much as snap a thread.

 _...Really, Ly?_ Ebony groaned.

_I am not strong._

_You tried, Lira, and that is what counts. Would you like someone else to take the reins for a time or is the pain bearable?_

I thought for a moment. _I can manage. I want to explore!_

Ebony huffed in exasperation. _When_ don't _you want to explore?_

_When spiders are involved._

_You do tend to get a bit panicky around spiders,_ Spark said thoughtfully.

 _They're so creepy with their thin little legs and all those eyes and they make webs to catch their prey and they don't just_ eat _the bugs, they literally liquefy their insides and suck out the juice! How is that not terrifying???_

 _Let's just keep moving before you have a panic attack or something,_ Ebony said with a sigh.

I nodded, shifting my weight to try and relieve some of the pain in my right leg. Too bad the stick was only about as long as my forearm. If it had been longer, I could have used it as a walking stick. I decided to bring it with me anyway.

Aside from the single shaft of sunlight, the room was quite dark. I managed to find the doorway without smacking my face into a wall. Honestly I'm not sure how, but I did, and I was very grateful for it.

In the next room was another flower. I would have walked right past it if not for Ebony.

_Hold up. That flower doesn't look right._

I paused to look at it. It seemed normal to me.

And then it OPENED ITS EYES AND LOOKED AT ME.

My squeak of fear and confusion was never heard. Ebony instantly shunted me off to one side and took control.

*

Ebony

*

I blinked, forcing back the sudden wave of pain. Lira had been downplaying just how much it hurt to stand.

“Howdy!” the flower chirped. “I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!”

Okay now I was really glad I was the one with control. This thing didn't sit right with me in the slightest. “...Hey.”

“You're new to the Underground, aren't cha?”

I frowned. “What's it to you?”

 _Ebony, you're being rude,_ Lira complained.

_This thing is giving me bad vibes like you wouldn't believe, Ly._

_That is no excuse to be rude! Gimme back control, I can handle it!_

I ignored her and refocused on the flower.

“Well, I could give you advice! You must be awfully confused, and someone should teach you how things work down here! Since no one else is around, little old me will have to do!” The flower beamed at me.

_Ly, calm down. I'm… starting to think Ebony is right. Flowey, or whatever his name is, doesn't feel right._

_But Adva…_

_No, Ly. Now let Ebony focus._

“And if I tell you hell no and to get the hell away from me?” I asked.

The flower's smile never faltered. “Ready? Here we go!”

Without any other warning, color just sort of… shut off. Everything went black and white, except for a little cartoon heart floating a few inches in front of my chest. _That_ was green with an orange rim.

I hissed in shock and took a step backward.

Flowey – also de-colored – just smiled. “See that heart?”

“Where'd the color go?”

“Oh, we've entered an encounter! The color will be back. But do you see the heart?”

An encounter. Why did that sound so sinister when he said it? “...Yeah. It's literally the only thing I can see in color right now.”

“That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!”

I suddenly felt very exposed. The culmination of my being… everything I was… out in the open, for anyone to see… for anyone to hurt.

 _Ebony?…_ Spark asked cautiously.

_I'm fine, Spark._

_Are you sure?_

I pointedly avoided her question. _I don't trust this weed one bit._

_...Me neither._

“Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV!” Flowey told me in the friendliest, most helpful tone you can imagine.

“...The heck is LV?”

“Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you?”

_Yes!_

_Ly, I'm pretty sure that whatever he means by love, it's not what you're thinking of,_ Adva told her.

Flowey apparently took my lack of a response as a yes. “Down here, LOVE is shared through little white… friendliness pellets.”

 _He hesitated._ I was starting to freak out a little.

_I heard. Be careful, Ebony._

Little white shapes appeared behind Flowey. They looked like seeds.

“Are you ready?” Flowey chirped. “Move around! Get as many as you can!”

The pellets began advancing toward me, rotating slowly.

I stepped to one side and let them go past me. No way in heck was I letting one of those things touch me.

Flowey gave me a Look. “Hey, buddy. You missed them. Let's try again, okay?”

 _Just give him a chance, Ebony! What harm can it do?_ Lira pleaded.

I hesitated. _Lira, I don't trust him. If it was only my safety on the line, maybe. But the way things stand…_

_If this ends up really bad I'll let you hold it over my head for the next two days._

_…Fine. Assuming we live that long._

Another round of pellets formed and came toward me. This time I stretched out my arm and touched one as it passed.

A jolt of intense pain shot up my arm and I screamed. I think my knees buckled. Everything went fuzzy for a second, and the next thing I knew I was on my knees, cradling my arm against my chest, with panicked voices asking if I was okay. I was crying. The pain was that bad.

“You IDIOT,” Flowey cackled, his friendly facade completely gone. “In this world, it's kill or be killed! Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this?”

 _Well, Eb, you were right…_ Lira said weakly.

I let out a half-laugh, half-sob. _I wish I wasn't._

A ring of pellets appeared, completely encircling us. Flowey's insane laughter reverberated around the chamber as the deadly projectiles closed in.

I forced myself to watch, to keep my eyes on Flowey. I would not back down. I would not cower in fear.

Suddenly, a fireball collided with Flowey, making him yelp and forcing him to retreat into the ground. The ring of pellets disappeared. I nearly collapsed with relief.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth!” someone exclaimed.

I instantly tensed and whirled to face the new threat, forcing myself through the pain.

A monster stood in front of me. It was covered in white fur and was wearing a purple dress. It had horns and long ears and red eyes and it… really looked like a goat, honestly. But I was still trying not to panic.

“Do not be afraid, my child!” it… she?… told me. “I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.”

“Stay away from me!” I hissed.

She looked hurt, and for a moment, I felt bad.

Lira – of freaking course – trusted her right off the bat. _She looks nice._

 _Ly, you don't get a say right now,_ I snapped.

_...I suppose that's fair._

“Oh, my child, you are hurt!” Toriel exclaimed.

“First of all, I'm not your child. I don't even know you,” I spat. “Second, no freaking kidding! I fell into a mountain and got attacked by a psycho murder flower! Of course I'm hurt!”

 _Ebony, you're being rude again!_ Lira protested.

I ignored her. “Where am I?”

“Welcome to the Underground,” Toriel told me gently, spreading her paws. “Home of the monsters. You are currently just outside the Ruins.”

 _Please be careful, Ebony,_ Adva whispered.

_I believe the most advantageous strategy would be to play along and see what information we can gather. She does not appear as hostile as Flowey did._

Toriel, oblivious to my conversation, continued. “Come, I shall guide you through the catacombs.”

 _I don't trust her. She's acting too nice._ She was literally a monster. How was I supposed to protect us from a literal monster?

Adva very gently nudged me aside and assumed control.

*

Adva

*

I bit back a cry of pain as control switched to me. Before, I could tell Ebony was hurt, and it twinged something fierce, but now, bearing the brunt of the pain… No wonder she was having issues trusting Toriel if Flowey had hurt her so badly.

“Um… Toriel? I said hesitantly. “How big are the Ruins, exactly?”

She looked surprised for a moment, but quickly hid it. “They are not very large, once you get used to them. If you like, I can show you.”

I hesitated.

 _Trust her! She seems really nice!_ Lira urged.

 _No. We can't go with her. She'll turn out to be vicious, like Flowey was._ Ebony clearly wasn't budging.

 _Tiger, what do you think?_ I asked.

_I shall trust your judgment on this matter._

_She doesn't give off a vibe like Flowey did… But still… Can we trust her?_ Spark asked.

I thought for another moment. Then I stepped forward. “Alright.”

Again, Toriel looked surprised. But this time, rather than hiding it, the surprise turned into a genuine smile. “This way.”

She led us through a doorway and into a wide purple corridor with red leaves lining the walls and twin sets of stairs at the opposite end. The shadow of the Ruins loomed above.

Toriel suddenly stopped. “Oh, how could I have forgotten, human? You are injured! Would you allow me to heal you?”

“...What does this healing entail?” I asked cautiously.

 _DON'T TRUST HER DON'T TRUST HER DON'T TRUST HER THIS IS A TRAP!_ Ebony screamed.

“I will use a small amount of magic to stimulate cellular growth and immensely accelerate the rate at which those wounds heal,” Toriel explained calmly.

 _...Healing sounds nice. I trust her,_ Lira told me. _I don't think Toriel would hurt us._

Ebony just kept whispering ' _Don't trust her'_ over and over and over.

Tiger sighed. _Spark and I are both undecided. Again, the decision is yours._

“...You promise it won't hurt?”

Toriel nodded instantly. “I would never hurt you, my ch-… I mean to say, human.”

Cautiously, fearing a trap but not having many other options, I held out the arm that had connected with the pellet. “This hurts the most. And my leg.”

“Thank you for trusting me,” Toriel whispered. She held out one of those huge paws, letting it hover just above my injured arm. Then it began to glow a soft green. The green light washed over my arm, then spread to the rest of my body.

I could feel myself relaxing. I couldn't help it; it felt like all the pain and tension was literally melting away from my body. I hadn't felt so at peace in years.

Toriel pulled her paw away. “There. The pain should be gone now.”

“… I… Th-thank you,” I stammered. “R-Really… Thank you, that was...”

“My child? Are you alright? You are crying,” Toriel said with concern in her voice.

I swiped the tears from my face. “I'm fine. But… thank you. This is the best I've felt in… well, in years.”

Toriel smiled, and for the first time in a while, I wholeheartedly agreed with Lira. This was someone we could trust. There was nothing malicious in her eyes, just affection and warmth.

“Come. I wish to show you something.” Toriel led the way up the stairs and through the door. I followed without hesitation.

Ebony was crying softly. I heard the others trying to comfort her and decided to give them as much privacy as I could.

Toriel was waiting for me in front of another door, this one closed. There were six tiles on the floor, in three groups of two. A puzzle of some sort? There was a sign on the wall that read 'Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.'

“The Ruins are full of puzzles; ancient fusions between diversions and door keys,” Toriel told me. “One must solve them to get from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them.”

I stared at the tiles for a few seconds. “...The sign on the wall gives you the clue. 'Both walk not the middle road.' You have to step on all the tiles but the middle two.”

“Very good, my child!” Toriel said happily, before gasping and covering her mouth with her paw.

“You… can call me your child, if you want,” I told her.

Toriel smiled. “Thank you. I… I know it must be hard… but I hope I can make your life here a good one.”

 _Wait… life, here? What is she talking about?_ Spark asked, her voice full of confusion.

 _I don't know,_ I admitted. _Let's just go with it for now._

Toriel activated the switches and opened the door, then led me through a hallway with a lever puzzle (easily solved thanks to her convenient signs telling me what lever to pull, which felt like cheating). She looked very proud of me once we reached the other end of the hallway, though, so I didn't comment.

Then we reached a dummy.

“As a human living in the Underground, monsters may try to fight you,” Toriel told me. “You have experienced one fight already. However, should it happen again, it would be best for you to be prepared.”

Ebony hissed. _I knew it. She's going to attack us._

 _This is so weird. She sounds like Flowey did, but at the same time… she doesn't. Does that make any sense?_ Spark asked.

Before I could respond, Toriel continued. “When a monster engages you in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation! I will come to resolve the conflict.”

_...What._

Lira gasped in happiness. _Now this is a fighting tactic I can get behind!_

“Practice talking to the dummy!” Toriel said encouragingly.

_Can I take over please please please???_

Stifling a smile, I relinquished control.

*

Lira

*

As soon as I had control, I grinned and ran over to the dummy. “Hi!”

The world lost color like it had when Ebony fought Flowey, and the heart appeared again, but this time instead of having an orange border, the little heart was a solid green.

 _That makes sense,_ Tiger mused. _If the SOUL is truly the culmination of your being, then it is completely plausible that it would change depending on who is in control._

I nodded like I knew exactly what she was talking about.

 _Alright. This seems a bit different than when we fought Flowey,_ Adva told me. _Have at it._

“Hello, Mister Dummy! It's very nice to meet you! My name is Lira.” I smiled happily at the dummy.

The dummy just sat there.

“Very good!” Toriel praised. “You are very good. Come, my child!” She walked through a doorway into the next room.

I took a second to bask in the praise. People didn't often notice anything I did, never mind compliment me for it. Then I dashed after Toriel.

She was waiting just on the other side of the doorway with a smile on her face. “There is another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it?”

“I can solve it!” I said happily.

Toriel giggled. “With that attitude, my child, you shall have no trouble.” She led me down a corridor with a wiggly path down the middle. I, of course, followed the path exactly, because it was fun.

At the other end of the room, Toriel walked straight through the doorway. I tried to follow her, but suddenly something jumped out at me and the world went black and white.

I squeaked in alarm, but resisted Ebony's instinctive tug on control. _I got this._

… A giant frog blinked up at me.

 _Oh! I remember this from that mythology book we read about monsters!_ Spark squealed. _See, it wasn't a waste of time!_

 _What_ is _this thing?_ Ebony demanded.

_It's a Froggit._

The Froggit sat patiently and waited. Apparently combat came in turns down here, and I had the first turn.

“You're very considerate! Thank you for letting me go first! You are without a doubt the nicest frog monster I have ever met,” I told it.

 _I'm pretty sure it doesn't speak English,_ Spark started, but the Froggit began to blush. … _I guess it was flattered anyway?_

Suddenly, a looming shadow appeared. Toriel glared daggers down at the Froggit. She didn't even have to say anything; the Froggit took one look at her and ran away instantly.

Toriel glared after it one last time, then turned to me and gave me a warm smile. “Come along, my child.”

I followed slowly. _She's almost as scary as Adva gets sometimes…_

_I think she beats me by a mile._

We passed a sign, and I stopped to read it out loud. “'The western room is the eastern room's blueprint.' Ooh, is this the clue for the puzzle you mentioned, Miss Tori?”

Toriel chuckled. “Yes, my child.”

 _The western room must be the room we just came from!_ Tiger realized. _Which means that path on the floor must be the path we need to take through the eastern room._

 _You're really smart,_ I told her, a bit awestruck at how fast she'd worked that out.

_Oh, it was nothing… simple deductive reasoning. I'm sure anyone could have done it._

I shrugged. _Not me._

Toriel led me through another doorway, and we were faced with a sea of spikes.

Ebony instantly freaked out. _It's a trap! She wants to kill us, she's going to kill us, I knew this would happen! Ly, give me the reins!_

I resisted her attempts at taking control. _Ebony, it's just a puzzle. It's okay._

Toriel must have seen evidence of the struggle on my face, because she looked worriedly at the puzzle. “Oh… perhaps this a little too dangerous for right now...”

 _…She's not going to let us solve it?_ Tiger asked in a small voice.

I stepped forward and put my hand on Toriel's arm. “No! No, I want to solve it.”

“Are you sure, my child?” She seemed very concerned for my well-being.

I nodded. “I can do it.”

Toriel hesitated. “…Very well. But if you need help, please do not hesitate to ask! I will gladly assist you.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks, Miss Tori.” And I gave control to Tiger.

*

Tiger

*

I walked back into the last room, staring critically at the floor. A pathway. It was telling us exactly where we needed to go.

Starting at the opposite end, I began to follow the path as Lira had done, counting paces as I did so. Then I went over the path again, and a third time, until I was confident I had memorized the pattern, at which point I went back to the sea of spikes.

Luckily, I had prepared for finding the starting point. Second pace from the bottom. Then I began walking. _Four paces forward two paces up five paces forward two paces down seven paces forward two paces up four paces forward._

Toriel followed me the whole way, watching anxiously, and clapped enthusiastically as I stepped out of the spikes. “Oh, well done, my child! Well done indeed! I am very impressed! And on your first try! If I didn't know better, I should think you have as much experience with this puzzle as I have.”

I glanced down at my shoes, trying to hide my embarrassment. I wasn't used to such high praise from anyone, much less someone like Toriel. “I-It was n-nothing, really…”

 _Shut up and learn to take a compliment, Tiger,_ Ebony huffed.

Lira squealed in happiness. _You were great!_

“Oh, nonsense! You were wonderful! However… I now have a difficult request.” Toriel gestured to the long hallway in front of us. “Please walk to the end of this hallway by yourself.”

I frowned. “Just… Just walk down the hallway?”

But Toriel was already gone, hurrying off down the corridor.

Ebony locked up again. _This is trap this is a trap look at it it's so obviously a trap I don't trust this._

 _Do you want me to take over?_ Adva asked gently.

I trusted Adva with my life. I handed over control.

*

Adva

*

Moving purposefully but still cautiously, I moved forward. The hallway seemed to stretch as I walked it, and there was a feeling of tension hanging heavy in the air.

Was it my imagination, or did I hear something behind me? Or were those just my footsteps echoing off the walls?

 _Adva. Calm down,_ Spark told me. _It's just a hallway. An_ empty _hallway, at that. It can't hurt us._

I knew she was right. But still, I increased my speed just a little.

Suddenly, a pillar broke the monotony of purple walls. Just as I was about to pass it, Toriel stepped out from behind it.

“Greetings, my child!” she said happily. “Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time.”

I frowned. “So… if you didn't actually leave, why make me walk down the hallway?”

“There was an important reason for this exercise,” she assured me.

 _The hallway was scary. I didn't like it,_ Lira noted.

“It was to test your independence!”

I felt a fear even more unreasonable than the one I had felt walking the hallway. “You're going to leave?”

Toriel nodded. “I must attend to some business. Unfortunately I cannot bring you with me. Please, my child, remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself.”

Ebony snorted, but didn't comment. Was she actually warming up to Toriel?

Suddenly, Toriel brightened. “I have an idea! I will give you a cell phone.” She handed me an old flip phone. It was a violet color, of course. There was an empty key chain shaped like a Froggit attached to it. “If you have a need for anything, just call!”

“I will.” I carefully took the phone and slipped it into my pocket. “Thank you.”

She smiled at me. “Be good, alright?” Then she turned and quickly left the room.

I leaned against the wall and slid down until I reached the floor. _How are you guys holding up?_

 _…That healing spell, or whatever it was… we all felt it,_ Spark told me quietly. _It was… gosh, it was… I can't even describe it. How did we all feel it?_

 _Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that we can manifest our SOUL down here,_ Tiger mused.

I nodded. _Maybe. Ebony, how's things?_

_…I've been better. But I've also been worse._

_That's not an answer,_ I chided.

She sighed. _I'm fine._

 _I can't believe she gave us a cell phone!_ Lira squealed. _An actual, real-live cell phone! No one's_ ever _given us something that expensive before!_

 _I bet it doesn't even work,_ Ebony muttered.

 _Can I try it?_ Lira pleaded.

Shaking my head at Lira, I gave up control.

*

Lira

*

I pulled the cell phone out of my pocket and flipped up the cover. The screen lit up a soft blue. Three options glowed on the screen: 'Item,' 'Stat,' and 'Cell.' I used the arrow keys to maneuver the cursor to the 'Cell' option, then hit the big round middle button.

The phone began making a 'ring' noise.

 _Ring, ring…_ I echoed.

Spark chuckled. _Ring, ring, ring…_

Toriel picked up. “This is Toriel.”

“Hi!” I chirped. “I just wanted to make sure I knew how this thing works! And make sure it did work! Also I wanted to say hello!”

“Well, 'hello'! I hope that suffices,” Toriel giggled.

I giggled, too. “Yep! See you later, Miss Tori! Bye!” I hung up. _See, Ebony? It works!_

 _She has you there,_ Adva told her.

Ebony grumbled under her breath.

I stared at the doorway Toriel had gone through. _…I really want to go explore…_

 _Lira, no! Madam Toriel told us in no uncertain terms to stay here!_ Tiger gasped. _We cannot just run off and disobey her!_

 _You may not be able to, but I certainly can,_ Ebony growled.

I tucked the phone back in my pocket, stood, and carefully made my way toward the doorway. The instant I stepped through it, the phone rang. I answered. “Hello?”

“This is Toriel! You have not left the room, have you?”

Ebony took control just long enough to say “No,” then gave it back.

Toriel sighed in relief. “Oh, good. You did extremely well on the previous puzzles, my child, but I would very much like to be present when you attempt the upcoming puzzles in case you need assistance. They are rather tricky, and you may hurt yourself trying to solve them alone. Be good, alright?”

I tried to keep the guilt out of my voice. “Of course.”

Toriel said goodbye and hung up.

 _Welp. We're already going to live with the crushing guilt of leaving the room. Might as well explore while we're at it,_ Adva sighed.

I put our phone away and looked around.

Standing next to me was a Froggit. This one didn't seem as eager to fight me as the other one. I decided to go over and say hello.

The Froggit stared at me. “Ribbit, ribbit.”

Spark gasped. _He's saying something! I can translate, hang on… 'Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling monsters.'_

“Ribbit, ribbit.”

_'If you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until you almost defeat them, they might not want to battle you anymore.'_

“Ribbit, ribbit.”

_'If a monster does not want to fight you, please… use some MERCY, human.'_

I nodded seriously. “Okay. I will. Thank you.”

The Froggit nodded back.

 _Come on. We should keep moving,_ Ebony urged.

I turned and continued walking down the hallway. Without any warning, the world suddenly went monochromatic again, and my all-green SOUL appeared.

A tiny, wispy-looking monster had meekly approached.

 _That's a Whimsun,_ Spark informed me.

I frowned. “Oh, you look scared! Don't worry, it's okay -...”

Whimsun burst into tears and ran away.

All five of us were silent for a moment.

_...Let's continue and agree that encounter never happened._

We all agreed instantly and I hurried on.

As I entered the next room, our phone rang. I happily answered on the second ring. “Hi there, how's it going?”

“It is going well, my child! Oh, I almost forgot to say, this is Toriel. For no reason in particular… which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?” Toriel asked innocently.

I thought for a second.

_Butterscotch?_

_I like butterscotch best._

I smiled. “Butterscotch.”

“Oh, I see! Thank you very much!” She hung up.

Not even two seconds later, our phone rang again.

“You do not _dislike_ cinnamon, do you? I know what your preference is, but… would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?” Toriel asked.

“No, of course not!” She was obviously making something special, and even if I _had_ disliked cinnamon (which I didn't), I still would have eaten it to make Toriel happy.

Toriel chuckled. “I see. Thank you. And thank you for being patient!”

I smiled. “Absolutely! You were patient with me, so why wouldn't I return the favor?”

She said goodbye and hung up.

Looking around the room, I saw a large rock on the floor, a pressure plate, and a wall of spikes. Puzzle. _Tiger, here you go._

*

Tiger

*

This one was laughably simple. I walked over to the rock and pushed it onto the pressure pad, which caused the spikes to retract.

 _Sign,_ Adva noted. _There, to your right._

She was correct. There was a sign on the wall. It read 'Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them.' Huh.

Regardless, the spikes were gone. We could progress. I moved to the next room.

The next room…

The entire floor was webbed with cracks. It looked liable to disintegrate at any moment, and that was without the addition of my weight.

Lira hummed thoughtfully. _Maybe Miss Tori was being serious when she said we could hurt ourselves._

 _It does look pretty dangerous,_ Spark admitted.

 _It's not too late to go back to the room Madam Toriel told us to wait in!_ I pointed out. _We can always turn around and pretend we never left._

Adva chuckled. _Tiger, you know us better than that. Once we've committed to something, we don't quit._

I sighed. _You cannot blame me for trying._

 _Look at this room! Still think we're safe, guys? Still think it's not a trap?_ Ebony demanded.

 _Only one way to find out._ I stepped out into the middle of the room.

Surprisingly, I didn't fall to some horrible demise. The floor crackled a bit in protest at holding my weight, but it held.

Lira giggled happily. _Hey! We're okay!_

I tentatively took another step forward. Then another. I made it to the middle of the room without falling. Then I turned to look for the exit, and I took a half step forward so I could gauge the distance better… and I was falling.

The fall wasn't long. A pile of crunchy leaves broke my fall at the bottom. But I still had the wind knocked out of me and I was still terrified. Free fall was an awful sensation.

 _Tiger? You okay?_ Adva asked urgently.

 _Y-Yes, I'm alright. The leaves broke my fall._ I stood shakily.

The leaves were laid out in a very odd pattern. Straight lines?

 _Sign on the wall!_ Lira announced.

'Please don't step on the leaves.'

My eyes widened. “That's it!”

 _What's it?_ Spark asked.

I ran over to the start of the leaf lines and followed the clear path in between them. _This is the safe path. The leaves mark the spots where the floor is unsafe. All the way down and over and up and over and down and over… Got it._

_Are you sure?_

_Yes. I am positive._

Lira made a 'hmmm' noise. _How do we get back up?_

I walked over to a ladder embedded in the wall. _Here. You're meant to fail, so you can find the clue._ I began to climb.

Once we were back on top, I began to walk the pattern. The safe path zig-zagged up and over and down, again and again until it reached the opposite wall. I reached it without falling again.

Spark whistled. _Nicely done, Tiger!_

 _Yay! You did it!_ Lira cheered.

I smiled. _Thank you for the praise. I… am not used… I mean, I… I don't…_

Surprisingly, it was Ebony who cut me off. _We get it, Tiger._

Taking a breath to calm myself, I nodded. _Right. I… Right._ I moved on.

The world flickered into black and white. My SOUL, I noticed, was green with a dark blue border.

 _Oh, that's a Moldsmal!_ Spark informed me, seeing the sentient blob of jelly in front of me. _I'm… not sure what the yellow glow means…_

Sure enough, the Moldsmal was softly glowing yellow.

 _The Whimsun was glowing, too,_ Lira remembered.

I considered the Moldsmal. It looked peaceful, as much as a blob of gel could look peaceful. Shrugging, I lay down next to it, trying to imitate it.

… _Really?_ Ebony asked.

 _I feel as though I understand the world a little better,_ I told her absently. Most of my focus was still on imitating the Moldsmal.

 _Secrets are unraveling before us,_ Lira agreed.

Ebony groaned. _Let's just try that MERCY thing the Froggit mentioned and let's GO._

I sat up and nodded at the Moldsmal. “Thank you. This was… interesting.”

The Moldsmal made slime sounds.

 _I have no idea what it's saying,_ Spark told me.

Suddenly, a white pellet appeared behind Moldsmal. It came a little ways toward me, then split into multiple pellets that radiated out and disappeared.

Acting as one, we ran out of range, then turned and awaited the next attack, muscles coiled like springs.

But the next attack never came. Moldsmal just sat there.

“Is… is it my turn, now?” I guessed, recalling Lira's theory from earlier.

Moldsmal made a 'squorch' noise and waited pensively.

“I would rather not fight you,” I told it.

The yellow glow brightened. Moldsmal made a happy squelch and hopped away, leaving a few gold coins behind.

Very, very carefully, I stepped forward and took the coins. There was no slime on them at all. Figuring Moldsmal had wanted me to have them, I pocketed the coins and kept walking.

 _I understand now,_ I told the other four as I walked. _The yellow glow must mean you can tell them you do not wish to fight, and they will not attack you anymore. I suppose as long as they feel they must attack you, they will._

Ebony hissed. _I don't trust them. Any of them._ She had almost had a panic attack when Moldsmal had summoned the pellet.

I shrugged, acknowledging the point. I didn't have time to address it at that moment, however, since we had reached the next room.

It greatly resembled the puzzle from before, except there were three rocks this time instead of one.

Moving quickly, I pushed the first two onto the pressure pads, but no sooner had I touched the third than it snapped at me.

“WHOA there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?” it demanded.

I took a pace back. “I… My apologies, I just needed to move you -...”

“Move me?”

 _I think we need a more clever approach here,_ Adva told me.

Okay. So I couldn't move it myself. But it was a sentient rock. Maybe… “Could you, um, move onto that pressure pad over there? Please?”

“HMM? You're _askin'_ me to move over?”

I nodded. “Please.”

“Alright. Just for you, pumpkin.” It slid about a foot forward on its path.

“Um… I-If you could keep going just a little more...” I said hesitantly.

“HMM? You want me to move some more?”

I nodded again. “If you could?”

The rock hummed thoughtfully. “Alrighty, how's this?” It slid to my left, off its path of intended travel.

“U-Um, n-no, that was the wrong way.”

“Okay, think I got it,” the rock told me. It reversed course, back onto the path, and slid itself on top of the pressure plate.

I clapped my hands together happily as the spikes retracted. “That's it! Thank you, sir!”

No sooner had I reached the spikes, however, than they went up again, blocking my way. I turned around… and saw that the rock had left the pad.

“Um… Mister Rock, sir? I need you to stay there so I can progress.”

The rock sighed. “You're giving me a real workout.”

I flushed. “O-Oh, my apologies, but I… I need your help to make the puzzle work… I'm very sorry…”

“Hey, it's okay, pumpkin!” the rock hastened to assure me. “I'll help you. Now you get on through that doorway, okay? I'll handle the moving.”

It slid back onto the pressure pad and the spikes retracted once again.

I gave it a shaky smile. “Th-thank you.”

“Sure thing!”

Moving quickly, before the rock decided to change its mind, I went into the next room.

Lira giggled. _He called you pumpkin! And it was adorable!_

 _Hush up, Ly!_ I hissed.

 _… At least the rock didn't try to kill us…_ Ebony conceded.

Adva laughed. _If we can, we're coming back to visit the rock. Maybe learn his name._

_I would appreciate it if all of you stopped talking._

I was so preoccupied, I nearly tripped over the ghost.

The ghost was lying on the floor, saying 'Z' out loud over and over again, pretending to be asleep.

“Um…” I frowned. “Excuse me, sir? I need to pass by you.”

“Z… Z… Are they gone yet?… Z…”

I knelt down next to him and poked him, or at least I tried to. My hand phased right through him. “Excuse me. I need to get through this corridor and you appear to be blocking my way. I hate to be rude, but could you step aside for a moment?”

Suddenly, the world flickered into monochromatic mode. My SOUL appeared. We had entered a fight.

 _Here comes Napstablook,_ Spark whispered.

Ebony snorted in disbelief. _There is_ no _way his name is Napstablook._

_No, that's actually his name._

I hesitated for a long moment. _I… don't know what to do._

 _Can I take over?_ Lira asked. _He looks sad. I want to cheer him up._

Relieved, I handed off control.

*

Lira

*

As control switched, the little heart-shaped SOUL wavered, flickering from Tiger's green with a border to my solid green.

I took a step toward the ghost, giving him the most patient smile I could manage. “Hi there.”

“Heh...” Napstablook started to cry. The ghostly tears began to zing all over the place, and even though I tried dodging them all, one hit me. It hurt a little, but not bad. At least Napstablook looked a little better.

“Hey, if you're feeling down, you should get in an elevator. You know, to lift your spirits!” I made finger guns at Naspstablook.

Napstablook chuckled, and this time the tears formed the words 'Really not feeling up to it right now. Sorry.'

“Take your time,” I assured him.

“Hey… can I show you something?”

I nodded eagerly. “What is it?”

Napstablook started to cry again, and like before, the tears didn't attack me. Instead, they floated upward, massing together into the shape of a top hat. “I call it 'dapper blook.' Because… my name is Napstablook… It's a pun. Do you like it?…”

My eyes were wide. “I LOVE IT! You literally made a top hat out of your tears! That is the coolest thing ever!”

The color bled back into the world and my SOUL vanished.

“… I usually come to the Ruins because there's nobody around…” Napstablook admitted. “But today I met someone nice… Oh, I'm rambling again… I'll get out of your way…” He faded into the floor.

I happily moved on.

In front of us was a crossroads. Continue straight or go left?

“When in doubt, go straight!” I announced, staying my course.

The next room made me take a step backward. _Spider webs_ lined the walls.

 _Advaaaaaaaa there's spiders!_ I squeaked.

Adva sighed, muttered something about 'stupid arachnophobia,' and took control.

*

Adva

*

I stepped forward and read the sign in the middle of the room. 'Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders.' There was also a short list of prices and note asking us to please leave donations in the webs.

 _… A bake sale?…_ Lira agonized. _… I like bake sales… but spiders? Why did it have to be spiders?_

 _Tell you what, Ly. We can use the gold we got from Moldsmal to buy something. I'll do it for you. How does that sound?_ I asked.

_… I guess that would be okay…_

I smiled. _Tiger? Is it okay if we use the gold? You were the one who encountered Moldsmal, after all._

Tiger chuckled. _I do not think Moldsmal would have any objections, and neither do I._

 _Perfect._ I took out the gold and counted it – seven pieces. Checking the prices on the sign, I saw that I had just enough to buy a Spider Donut. _I guess I just… leave it in the web?_

 _That's what the sign says,_ Spark agreed.

I carefully stuck the gold pieces to one of the webs. A spider dropped from the ceiling – Lira gave a little shriek – and handed me a donut.

“Thank you,” I told it, taking the donut. I could have easily spent a while in the spider room looking around, but in fairness to Lira, I quickly left and gave her back control.

*

Lira

*

I shuddered. _Thanks, Adva._

_No problem._

_On to the next room!_ I turned right and headed into a longer room with a Froggit in it.

The Froggit looked at me. “Ribbit, ribbit.”

Spark hummed thoughtfully. _Let's see… 'I have heard you are quite merciful, for a human.'_

“Ribbit, ribbit.”

_'Surely you know by now that when a monster glows yellow, you can SPARE it. What do you think of that?'_

I smiled. “It's very helpful.”

“Ribbit, ribbit.”

_'Yes, it is rather helpful. Remember, sparing is just saying that you won't fight. Maybe one day, you'll have to do it even if they aren't glowing yellow.'_

“I hope not. I don't want to fight anyone,” I told the Froggit.

The Froggit blinked at me, but didn't say anything else.

“Thank you for the advice.” I kept walking.

Our phone rang.

I quickly answered. “Hi, Miss Tori.”

“You always know it is me, my child!”

“Well, you're the only one who knows my number!” I giggled.

She giggled, too. “I suppose that is true. Well, I called to say that it has been a while since I cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon. So there are probably a few things lying about the Ruins. I do not mind if you keep them, but do not carry more than you need. Someday you might see something you really like, and you should make sure you have room in your pockets just in case.”

I nodded. “Thank you for the advice, Miss Tori. I'll keep that in mind.”

“Goodbye, my child!” She hung up.

 _… Does she know we're out here?_ Spark asked.

Ebony made a 'humph' noise. _I wouldn't put it past her to make such a fuss about not leaving just to goad us into exploring._

 _Be nice,_ I chided. _I'm sure she was just telling us for future._

I walked into the next room. There was a sign on the wall that read, 'There is just one switch.' I glanced around and saw that there were several places on the floor that looked unstable, and several places that might conceal the exit of a ladder. Spikes blocked our way forward. Puzzle. _Tiger, you're up._

*

Tiger

*

There is only one switch.

 _This is fairly simple,_ I mused as I inspected the cracked floor. There were six distinct patches that looked ready to crumble if I looked at them funny. _The switch is hidden under one of these patches. We simply have to figure out which one, by trial and error._

Ebony groaned. _That could take ages!_

 _There's only six of them,_ Spark pointed out.

 _This one!_ Lira turned our head to the middle patch on our right.

I shrugged. _Why not._ And I stepped out onto the weakened floor.

Like the previous falling puzzle, it wasn't a long drop, and there were leaves to break my fall. I knew it was coming this time and manged to land somewhat gracefully.

Lira gasped happily. _Blooky!_

Sure enough, Napstablook lay on the ground next to where I landed.

“I fell down a hole….” he told me. “… Go on without me….”

I frowned. “Um… Pardon me, but… can't ghosts fly?”

Napstablook paused for a moment, then sighed. “Oh… yeah….” Then he phased through the wall and was gone.

Lira gave a happy hum. _I like Blooky._

 _Blooky?_ Adva asked with amusement.

_I like giving people nicknames. You know this._

Leaving them to their discussion, I climbed the ladder that led back to the starting point. Middle right was no good. Perhaps the one closest to the door? I tried that one next.

The only thing in that room was a ribbon. It was faded, but it immediately drew Lira's attention.

_Oooh, a ribbon! It's pretty!_

_Very pretty,_ Spark agreed.

I picked up the ribbon and brushed the bits of dead leaves off of it. Perhaps it used to be red, but now it was a dull, dark pink. It really was a pretty ribbon. I tied it around our ponytail and made a bow with it.

Spark snickered. _Give me control. I want to do something stereotypical._

I frowned in confusion, but let her take over.

*

Spark

*

I smiled, pulled out our phone, and began scrolling through the apps. As I thought. The phone Toriel had given us had a small built-in camera. I used the keyboard to highlight the app and enter it, then took a selfie.

Lira burst into a fit of hysterical giggles.

Ebony groaned. _Really, Spark? We don't have time for this! We need to keep moving!_

 _Oh my gosh Spark that's perfect,_ Adva chuckled.

Even Tiger was amused. _I see now what you meant by stereotypical._

 _How'd it turn out?_ Lira demanded.

I opened the phone's gallery and looked at my picture. I had done the oh-so-popular duck face and made sure to include our new accessory in the shot. It was wonderful.

Lira burst into fresh peals of laughter.

 _Fabulous!_ I declared, giving control back to Tiger.

*

Tiger

*

I tucked our phone back in my pocket and climbed up the ladder. If my guess hadn't been right, and neither had Lira's… perhaps the middle left? I tried it.

To my happy surprise, I had chosen correctly. There was a switch on the wall, which I quickly flipped, then ascended to the main room. Sure enough, the spikes had retracted, and I continued.

~ ~ ~

We quickly fell into a pattern. Solve puzzles, encounter monsters, find a way to spare the monsters, move on to the next puzzle. After several more rooms, we finally encountered something pattern-breaking.

I stepped into the next room, expecting another puzzle. Instead, there was an old tree. At first I thought it was dead. But as I watched, a leaf grew, turned red, and fell off, joining the dozens of other red leaves forming a carpet around the tree.

Suddenly, I heard Toriel's voice and froze.

“Oh, dear, that took longer than I thought it would…” She rounded the tree, saw me, and rushed over.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable punishment. The only question now was whether she would punish me physically or verbally. I felt Ebony ready to take over at the slightest provocation.

“How did you get here, my child? Are you hurt?” Toriel demanded.

That was unexpected. I dared to open my eyes.

Toriel radiated motherly concern. “There, there… I will heal you.” She placed one massive paw on my head, and I was bathed in that green light. The bruises and scratches I had received melted away.

“Y-You… you aren't… angry with me?” I asked timidly.

“Why would I be angry with you? This is my fault. It was irresponsible for me to try and surprise you like this.” Toriel hesitated. “Er… Well, I suppose I can hide it no longer. Come with me, my child.”

She led me around the tree and down a little path, to a small cottage. It looked cute and tidy. Toriel walked right in, and after a brief hesitation, I followed.

As I crossed the threshold, a mouth-watering aroma enveloped me. It smelled unlike anything I had ever smelled on the surface.

Toriel was waiting at the opposite side of the entryway, in front of a bannister. A set of stairs descended behind her into what looked like a basement. She smiled when she saw my expression. “Do you smell that? It is a cinnamon-butterscotch pie. Surprise! I wanted to celebrate your arrival, so we will have snail pie tomorrow instead.”

 _… Snails?_ Ebony asked.

 _I'm pretty sure I heard the word snails,_ Spark concurred.

 _… I've actually wanted to try snails ever since I heard people in France eat them,_ Lira admitted.

Ebony made a sound like she was hacking up a hairball. _You can be the one to eat it, then._

“I want you to enjoy living here,” Toriel told me. “In fact, I have another surprise for you!” she led me down the hallway to my right.

She paused at the first door.

“… Is this it?” I guessed.

Toriel nodded happily. “It is. A room of your own! I do hope you like it.” She hesitated for a moment, then began to rub my head.

A sour note crept into the aroma of baking pie.

“Is something burning?” Toriel asked anxiously. “Um… make yourself at home!” She rushed away to the other side of the house, presumably to save the pie.

I stared after her for a few seconds.

Lira sighed. _Well, I for one want to see the room she got ready for us._

 _I don't like it,_ Ebony said quietly. _She's acting… weird. Like she thinks we'll automatically want to stay here for ever and ever._

 _The least we can do is stay one night with her, Eb,_ Lira pointed out just as quietly. _She's been so nice to us. We owe her that much._

Ebony made an uncertain noise. _… I don't know…_

_One night, Eb._

_… Fine. One night._

_Can I explore the room, Tiger? Can I?_ Lira asked.

I smiled and gave her the reins.

*

Lira

*

I opened the door and slowly walked in. Somehow, it felt _wrong_ to be bouncing off the walls when I first entered this room.

It was furnished simply. A comfy-looking bed, a small bookshelf, a wardrobe, a toy box, and… a box of kids' shoes in a wide variety of sizes.

 _That's… a little creepy,_ Adva admitted.

 _Maybe she likes to collect shoes?_ I suggested.

Kids' _shoes?_

I looked at the shoes again. _You never know. We collect things in groups of five. That might seem kind of weird to someone who doesn't know us._

 _She has a valid point,_ Tiger conceded.

Suddenly, everything we had been through caught up to me at once. The adrenaline, all the walking, the fights, the weirdness of it all… It crashed over me like a tidal wave, and I felt exhausted.

 _Go sleep, Ly,_ Adva said gently. _You've earned it._

I kicked off my shoes, tucked them neatly under the foot of the bed, turned off the lamp on the bookshelf, and snuggled up under the thick comforter. I was asleep in an instant.


	2. Trust and Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smaller chapter this time! Toriel is told what's going on.

I was sitting in Toriel's living room, reading about monster history. There was a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace. As far as we could figure without the sun to guide us, we had been in the Underground for a whole week.

Toriel sat in the armchair across from me. She looked up from her reading and smiled at me. “Would you like to hear a fact about snails, my child?”

I smiled back and closed my book, keeping my thumb in between the pages to keep track of my place. “Yes, please.”

“Did you know that snails sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature?”

“No, I didn't!”

Lira took control for a moment. “Now _I_ have a snail fact for _you._ ”

Toriel smiled. “What is it, my child?”

“Snails are delicious!” she declared, then relinquished control again.

“They are indeed!” Toriel chuckled.

Ebony groaned. _I still can't believe you like her snail pie._

_What can I say? My snail fact is completely accurate._

I let myself smile faintly at their banter.

Toriel set her snail book to one side and stared down at her paws, which were carefully folded in her lap. “I… I wanted to let you know how much it means to me that you are here. I know you did not trust me very much at first. And I would like to say that it means a great deal that you are willing to stay here with me.”

_… Adva?…_ Lira asked quietly. _… Toriel… She doesn't know what we are. She doesn't know… anything about us. We can't ask that of her. She's accepting strangers in._

For a long moment, Adva was quiet. Then she took a deep breath and spoke. _… I want to tell Toriel our story. Is that alright with everyone?_

No one spoke for several long, agonizing seconds. This was not a decision lightly made.

Lira spoke first. _She deserves to know._

_I second that,_ Spark said firmly.

I hesitated. _I… I want to stay here. If she knows…_

_Toriel would never kick us out because of that!_ Lira sounded shocked at the very idea. But she also sounded a little desperate. _Sh-she… She's not like that!_

_… I think you're right. I hope you're right. I say we tell her._

Adva let out a slow breath. _It's down to you, Ebony._

We waited. Telling someone else exactly who we were and where we came from was so big that (unlike in everyday matters, where majority ruled) we wouldn't do it unless all five of us were in agreement.

Ebony was silent for so long, we began to get concerned. But she finally let out a sigh. _Go ahead. Prove me wrong about her._

_Tiger… I think I should be the one to do this. May I?_

I handed her control.

*

Adva

*

I took a shaky breath and set my book to one side. “… Toriel?”

Toriel, who I think had been saying something, paused. “What is it, my child?”

“There's… something I need to ask you.”

“Of course, my child. You may come to me with anything.”

I hesitated. The words caught in my throat. “W-Well… Um…”

Toriel frowned. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. No. It will be. I… I don't know.”

_Breathe, Adva,_ Spark reminded me gently. _You can do this._

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If… If someone told you they think… they think they're not really one person, they're several people sharing the same space, and they've been like this as long as they can remember… what would you say?”

She thought for a moment. “… I would say, 'Now I get to make several friends instead of just one.' Why do you ask, my child?”

“… 'My children',” I corrected her. I refused to meet her gaze. “It's 'my children'.”

There was dead silence, except for the crackle of the fire. But even that seemed muted and far away as we waited for Toriel's response.

When it came, it was quiet, so quiet that we had to strain to hear her. “…… There are…. There are several people in your body, my child?”

I shook my head. “No. It's not my body. It's _our_ body. We've always shared it.”

“Why did you not say so earlier?”

“… Humans don't… They don't like it when you say that you aren't alone inside your head. They call it 'multiple personality disorder' and give you medicine and try to force you to admit that you're just hearing voices.” I felt tears pricking at the corners of my eyes and blinked them away.

Toriel stood and came over to my chair, kneeling down in front of me. “My child… my children. I… I am sorry, I… I did not know.”

“No one does.” I fought to keep my voice steady. “We don't tell anyone anymore. Not after the way people treated us.”

“How many of you are there?”

I hesitated. “Can you… Can you bring out our SOUL?”

Toriel leaned back slightly in shock. “M-My child, I… Y-Yes, I can, but do you realize what you are asking?”

“It changes depending on who's in charge,” I explained. “That's the easiest way to introduce ourselves, I think.”

“That may be true, but… For monsters, bringing out someone's SOUL is… Either it is done in a fight, or it is done as a show of complete trust. It is making yourself totally vulnerable,” Toriel told me. “Bringing out your SOUL in front of someone is like saying that you trust them with your life.”

I paused. Did we trust Toriel that much?

To my surprise, everyone concurred. Yes, we did trust her. Even Ebony gave me permission.

“… We all agree. We trust you.”

Toriel stared at me. “You… You do?”

I nodded. “How does someone take out their SOUL?”

Carefully, as if she was afraid we would rescind our decision, Toriel walked me through the steps. Place your hand over your heart. Close your eyes. Focus on the 'thrum' of your magic, or in this case, on my heartbeat. Relax. Then pull your hand forward.

I did as she told me, and when I pulled my hand away, the little cartoon heart appeared, with its red border and green center.

Toriel smiled. “Determination and kindness.”

“Do our different SOUL colors have different meanings?” Tiger asked, taking control just long enough to ask her question, then retreating. The border on our SOUL flickered deep blue, then went back to red.

“They do. Each human SOUL takes on different colors depending on the characteristics of that human,” Toriel explained. “Red is determination, and green is kindness.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. So, my name is Adva. I'm kind of the mom. I make a lot of the major decisions and take over when no one else wants to. I also keep the peace… as much as I can.”

“It is wonderful to meet you,” Toriel said warmly.

Lira took control, and our SOUL turned solid green. “Hi! I'm Lira! I was the one in control when you showed us the dummy and when we called you that first time.”

Toriel chuckled. “Yes, I recognize you. You are certainly a hard one to forget.”

Lira beamed at her, then handed control to Tiger. The blue border appeared on our SOUL.

“My name is Tiger. It is a pleasure to formally meet you, Madam Toriel.”

“A pleasure to meet you also, my child. You have kindness, and the additional trait of integrity.”

Ebony took over. Tiger's blue faded into orange.

Toriel nodded. “Bravery.”

“The name's Ebony. I… I wanted… I'm sorry about how I acted when we first met,” Ebony blurted.

“Was that you?”

Ebony nodded. “I… I was scared. I was hurt. I don't like strangers. I'm sorry.”

“My child, I do not blame you in the least,” Toriel said gently.

“Thank you,” Ebony whispered as she gave control to Spark. The orange border became a bright yellow.

Spark waved. “I'm Spark.”

“Justice,” Toriel noted. “I am pleased to meet you. Also, if I may say so, justice and kindness are a formidable pairing.”

“Aw, gee, Miss Toriel...” Spark mumbled with a sheepish grin. “Thanks.”

I smiled as I took control again and our SOUL faded back into my chest. “That's everyone. There's five of us.”

Toriel smiled warmly back at me. “I am glad to have met you, my children. I am glad that you trusted me.”

“Don't tell anyone?”

She wrapped her arms around me. “Not for the world.”

I hugged her back, feeling more loved than I had in years. “Thanks, Mom.”

Toriel froze.

I let go and leaned back, afraid I had offended her. “I-I… I'm sorry, I…”

“Would… Would that make you happy?” she asked in little more than a whisper. “To call me… your mother?”

“ _No,_ ” I hissed. “Never that. You are _not_ our mother.”

Toriel nodded and stood. “I see.”

I grabbed her sleeve and stood as well. “No, you don't see. You aren't anything like our mother. Don't demean yourself by saying you're like her.”

“So… you mean to say that I am not your mother, but… your mom?” Toriel asked.

I nodded. “Your mom is something you can choose. So… is it okay if we called you our mom?”

Toriel smiled at me. She looked so happy in that moment. “My children, nothing could make me happier.”


	3. Loneliness and Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our protagonists make a pie, a promise, and a new friend! Not necessarily in that order.

“Be good, my children!” Toriel called, waving.

I waved back from the doorway of our cottage. “Bye, Mom! We will!”

Toriel waved a final time, then turned a corner and was gone.

_You heard her. We need to behave ourselves,_ Adva said sternly. _No parties with the Froggits._

_Aww, but I was gonna invite Napstablook!_ Spark joked.

I hesitated. _Hey, guys?… I want to do something nice for Mom. Shopping takes a while, so we have time to make a surprise for her!_

_Great idea, Ly!_ Adva agreed.

Tiger hummed thoughtfully. _Perhaps we could attempt the creation of a butterscotch pie?_

_I don't know… We've never tried baking anything before_ , Ebony pointed out.

_First time for everything!_ I went back inside and closed the door. _Besides, It's been two weeks; we've seen her make enough pies. I wanna try it._

Adva sighed. _… I suppose we can try it. Do you remember where she keeps her recipes?_

_In the drawers next to the stove. The one on top,_ Tiger told me.

_Thanks, Tiger!_ I hurried into the kitchen and looked in the drawer. Sure enough, there was the butterscotch pie recipe. I washed my hands, leaned the recipe against the wall, and started getting out ingredients. The others helped me remember where everything was.

_Brown sugar's on the top shelf._

_Milk is in the fridge, on the door!_

_Eggs should be there, too, right next to the chocolate bar._

I double-checked the recipe. … _Okay, I think this is everything we need. First step… Make a crust._

_Flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, then cut in the butter,_ Tiger instructed. She took control for a moment, grabbed two butter knives, and made a double slice motion. Then she gave control back. _That's how you cut it in._

I nodded seriously, copying her motion. Sure enough, the butter got evenly sliced up and mixed the more I did it. _Okay, butter's cut. Now what?_

_Add water and eggs,_ Adva told me, consulting the recipe.

I did so.

_Now mix it with your hands._

Giggling, I stuck my hands into the dough and started kneading it. After a few seconds, the silence felt oppressive. “… It's too quiet in here. I shall sing a song.”

Nearly everyone sighed.

I was not deterred. I began to sing a silly little song I made up on the spot. “Mixy, mixy, stir it in, make a crust that's nice and thin. Gonna make a pie for Mom, eat it up and then it's gone. Pretty crust so golden brown, soon you'll have a b-scotch crown.”

Adva chuckled. _Mixy, mixy, pie so sweet, bestest pie she'll ever eat!_

“Baking pies is so much fun! Make the crust, and you're half done!” I added.

_That looks good, Ly. Now roll it out and we can put it in the tin,_ Tiger told me.

I dusted flour over the counter and set my lump of dough on top, then rolled it out. Carefully, using the rolling pin to help me, I set the crust in the pie tin, then cut off the excess. _What now?_

_Stick that in the oven, then turn on the stove and grab a pan._ Spark turned our head slightly to look at the recipe. _Heat up the butter, the cream, and the milk, then add brown sugar._

I set a pot on the stove and followed her directions.

Tiger hummed as I stirred. _Now the eggs, cinnamon, and corn starch._

_The instructions say stir until that thickens,_ Adva reminded me.

“Stir, stir stir, gonna make a pie… How good is it? Won't know until you try,” I sang.

_Lira,_ must _you sing?_ Ebony asked.

“Yes I must.”

Tiger chuckled. _The mixture is adhering to the back of the spoon. Good. Now get out the pie crust and pour the mixture into it._

I found oven mitts in a drawer and carefully pulled the pie crust out of the oven. “Oooooh, it looks pretty!”

_Lovely color,_ Adva agreed.

Still wearing the mitts so I wouldn't burn myself, I poured our pie mixture into the crust, then stuck it back in the oven. “Done!”

We stared at the oven for a few seconds before Ebony voiced what we were all thinking.

_Now what?_

_I… don't know,_ Adva admitted. _We've never been without Toriel down here for very long, unless it's bedtime. We've never had to entertain ourselves._

_We could go read a book,_ Tiger suggested hopefully.

Ebony sighed. _Tiger, we read books for two hours before Toriel left._

_We could still read some more…_

“… I want to go into the basement.”

For a moment, there was stunned silence. Then everyone started talking at once.

_LIRA, NO! Madam Toriel gave us EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS!_ Tiger said in a panicked voice.

_Mom said the basement was off-limits!_ Adva reminded me.

Ebony laughed. _Go, Lira!_

_No no no no no bad idea bad idea no no bad bad bad…_ Spark hissed.

“Come on! It's the one part of this house we haven't seen yet,” I argued. “How dangerous can a basement be? And if it _is_ somehow dangerous, we'll turn right around and come back upstairs. Okay?”

Ebony was still laughing. _I never pegged you as a rebel, Ly!_

_… I kinda want to see what's down there, too…_ Adva mused.

Spark huffed in frustration. _We'll get in trouble!_

“Not if we move quickly,” I reasoned.

_But she told us to stay out of the basement!_ Tiger protested.

_Majority rules!_ Ebony cackled gleefully. _It's three against two!_

“Sorry, guys, but I'm really bored and curious.” I crept toward the stairs. It was true; this was the only part of the house Toriel had told us to stay away from. She hadn't even told us to stay out of her bedroom.

The stairs led down into semi-darkness; there were two flights of them, so I couldn't see the bottom. It was… rather ominous, actually.

_… Lira. Are you sure you want to do this?_ Adva asked softly.

_I thought you were curious, Adva!_ Ebony chided.

Adva sighed. _Regardless. This is Lira's choice._

I stared down those ominous stairs. The quietness of the house seemed oppressive. “… I need to know. I just… I just need to know.”

_… Alright._

I took a deep breath and stepped onto the staircase. The others gradually grew silent as I descended the long flight.

At the bottom, there was a long, _long_ purple hallway. It felt colder down here. I shivered.

_A hallway?_ Spark sounded puzzled. _Why didn't she want us to see a hallway?_

“… I don't know.” I began to walk, my footsteps echoing quietly off the purple brick of the walls.

The walk felt like it took years, but it was probably less than a minute before the hallway turned, and then it opened into a room with a huge door on the far wall.

“Huh.” I walked over and laid my hand against the painted metal. It bore the same symbol as Toriel's dress – a winged circle above three triangles.

**Knock knock**

I yelped and jerked my hand away like it had been burned. Someone had knocked on the other side of the door. THERE WAS SOMEONE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR.

Adva quickly took control.

*

Adva

*

I took a shaky breath, trying to calm our frantically beating heart. “W-who's there?”

Silence, for a moment.

“Dishes.”

“… Dishes who?”

“Dishes a very bad joke.”

Lira began to laugh, and the sound bubbled out of my mouth like a spring. After I overcame my surprise, I started laughing, too.

**Knock knock**

“Who's there?” I giggled.

“Broken pencil.”

“Broken pencil who?”

“Never mind, it's pointless.”

I sat down with my back against the huge door, still giggling. “Heard that one before.”

“Hey, you're laughing, aren't you?”

“True.”

The person on the other side of the door was quiet for a moment. “… Hey, is that lady there?”

I frowned. _Lady?_

_Perhaps he means Madam Toriel,_ Tiger suggested.

“… Does she sound like a mom? And not in a bad way, in the way that makes you feel kind of safe when she's talking?” I asked. “And is she really nice and considerate and talks kinda formally?”

“Spot on.”

Definitely Toriel. “She's not here right now. Actually, I'm not supposed to be here, either,” I admitted.

The someone chuckled. “Hey, you laughed at my jokes. I'm glad you're down here.”

I hummed thoughtfully. Then I reached up and knocked twice on the door.

“Who's there?”

“Iva.”

“Iva who?”

“I've a sore hand from knocking!” I snickered.

The someone burst out laughing. “Nice one, kid!”

“… Hey, what's your name?”

For a moment, there was silence.

“… Why do you ask?”

I shrugged. “I like to know the name of the person I'm talking to. Makes it easier than calling you 'that guy' in my head.”

“… The name's Sans.”

_How do we introduce ourselves?_ Spark asked. _If we give him five different names, it'll get really confusing really quickly._

I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Sans. I go by Five.”

“Good to meet you too, kid.”

“… You're not going to stop calling me 'kid', are you?”

Sans chuckled. “Nope.”

Suddenly, Tiger gasped. _The pie!_

I stood up so fast I felt dizzy. “Sorry, Sans, I've got to go! I need to go take something out of the oven!”

“'Kay. bye, kid.”

“Bye!” I ran back down the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time. When I reached the top, I paused as the smell of butterscotch and cinnamon washed over me, then hurried into the kitchen, thankful that it didn't smell burned.

Tiger's internal clock was perfect. When I pulled on the oven mitts and took the pie out of the oven, it looked exactly right. I carefully set it on top of the stove to cool. “I'd call that a success, guys!”

Lira squealed happily. _Oooh, it looks so pretty!_

_Not bad!_ Ebony admitted. _It's… kind of nice working together to do something like this._

_I had fun!_ Spark agreed.

**Creak**

“My children?” Toriel's voice came from the doorway. “I am home!”

“Mom!” I ran out of the kitchen and gave her a hug.

She smiled at me, then paused. “… What is that smell, my child?”

“We wanted to surprise you, so we made a cinnamon butterscotch pie!” I told her gleefully.

Toriel's eyes widened. “You made a pie, all by yourselves?”

I nodded.

“Is it out of the oven? May I see it?

“Of course!” I led her into the kitchen and proudly showed off our creation.

Toriel oohed and ahhed over it, telling us how proud she was.

_… Adva?_

_Yeah, Tiger?_

_Can… Can I take over?_

Frowning slightly, I gave her control.

*

Tiger

*

I took a deep breath. “… Mom?”

“Yes, my child?”

“I… W-We went into the basement.”

...

_TIGER WHAT THE HECK??_

_WHY DID YOU TELL HER SHE WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN IF WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!!!_

_WE'RE GONNA BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!_

I winced. _Guys, I'm sorry. I had to. It's not right._

Adva hesitated, then sighed in resignation. _Toriel did say your secondary trait was integrity…_

Toriel knelt in front of me. “… You went into the basement, my children? After I asked you not to?”

“I know it wasn't right, and I didn't want to, but it's majority rules and we were curious and we were a little bored waiting for the pie to cook and -...”

She pulled me into a hug. “Ssshhhhh… It is alright, my child.”

“No it's not! We did something wrong!” I whimpered.

Toriel sighed and pulled away, keeping her paws on my shoulders. “My children, I had my reasons for telling you to stay out of the basement.”

“Like what?” Ebony demanded before handing the reins back.

“That is the door that leads out of the Ruins,” Toriel admitted quietly. “I was afraid that if you knew, you… you would want to leave.”

I took a pace back. “Leave? But the Ruins are wonderful! And besides, you're here. Why would we leave?”

“Others have before you,” she said bitterly.

After a moment of hesitation, I hugged her. “We don't want to leave, Mom. Not even Ebony really wants to leave anymore.”

Toriel buried her muzzle in my shoulder. “… Please promise you will not leave me, my children. I could not bear to lose you.”

“We promise.”


	4. Love and Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lira gets an idea! Tiger reads a book. Plans are made.

Time passed quickly.

We began to get an education. Toriel admitted she had always wanted to be a teacher, and Lira never passed up an opportunity to tell her how good she was at it. Toriel also took us bug hunting and baked with us. Any time spent with her was time well spent, in our opinions.

Lira loved to run off on 'adventures' through the Ruins, pretending leaves were soldiers and staging large-scale battles with them, finding all the hidden spaces she could, and writing about the Ruins in a journal from Toriel that we shared.

Ebony practiced fighting. She sparred with the Froggits to hone her complimenting and dodging skills, and after finding a toy knife, she sparred with Napstablook. Because he was a ghost, she could practice attacking without hurting him.

Spark made friends with everyone in the Ruins. She became fluent in monster-speak, and began learning how to speak it herself. According to her, monster-speak was more about the intent of the SOUL than the actual words spoken.

Tiger absorbed information. She devoured book after book, learning all sorts of interesting things Toriel hadn't even thought to include in our education. But she didn't stop there. After memorizing the solutions to all the puzzles in the Ruins, she began to design her own in our journal, figuring out the inner workings of the mechanisms. She even made small-scale models of them from parts Lira found on her adventures.

And Adva came up with jokes. She snuck down into the basement whenever Toriel went out to run errands so she could talk to Sans, and she quickly learned that he was a pun master. She began inventing puns and writing them down in our journal. Soon she could almost keep up with Sans.

It was a good life. And before we knew it, another month had passed.

~ ~ ~

“I am going to check on the state of things around the Ruins. Be good, my children!” Toriel instructed, waving goodbye.

“We will! Goodbye, Mom!” I waved back as Toriel closed the door behind her.

 _We have the house to ourselves! What are we gonna do?_ Lira demanded.

Adva chuckled. _We have time to decide, Ly._

_We could bake or go see if Sans is there or…_

“Um… I was hoping to read the new book Mom found for me,” I put in.

Lira sighed. _Fiiiiinnnneeeee. You can read your book, Tiger._

“Thank you!” I ran over to the fireplace, sat down in our chair, and began reading _Crystals and Minerals of the Underground._

Every page or so, someone would point out an interesting entry. The book was fascinating! There were crystals that only grew in certain parts of the Underground, such as the ones from Waterfall – wherever that was – that absorbed light and glowed like glow-in-the-dark stars. Then one entry in particular caught my eye.

Magicite (SOUL crystal)

Magicite, more commonly known as SOUL crystal, has the unique property of attuning to magical wavelength. When it comes into contact with a being, the crystal will change color depending on the SOUL color of the one holding it. This is one of the few crystals with unusual properties that has been proven to work on both humans and monsters.

“Look!” I pointed to the entry. The picture alongside it showed a crystal sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow.

 _… Huh. Interesting,_ Adva said thoughtfully.

Lira was quiet for a moment, then said, _Tiger, where in the Underground can you find this crystal?_

“Well, let's see.” I scanned the page. “Here it is. 'This crystal can only be found in Waterfall.' Why do you ask?”

 _It's obvious, isn't it?_ Ebony sighed. _Ly wants to do something nice for Tori again._

I frowned. “What?”

 _Mom has trouble figuring out which of us is in charge at any given time. So what if we got a chunk of this SOUL crystal stuff and made it into a necklace or something? That way, she'd always be able to tell just by looking at the crystal who's in charge,_ Lira explained.

“But… Waterfall is a long way from here,” I said quietly. “We would have to leave the Ruins.”

 _It wouldn't be forever,_ Ebony reasoned.

Spark hummed thoughtfully. _How far is Waterfall from the Ruins?_

“Just a moment.” I leafed through the book until I came to a page with directions to different places in the Underground. “It looks like we have to leave the Ruins and go through Snowdin.”

Lira gasped. _Is that the name of the place behind the door? Maybe that's where Sans lives!_

I put the book away and sat down on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. “I am not sure about this, Lira...”

 _I'm not either,_ Adva admitted. _Guys, let's think this through. What are the pros of this plan?_

 _We make things a lot easier on Mom and get to see more of the Underground and go on an adventure. Plus we might get to meet Sans in person,_ Lira said promptly.

_And the cons?_

“We promised Mom we would not leave the Ruins. Besides, she told us it's dangerous out there.”

Lira sighed. _I'm sorry, guys. I keep suggesting we break Mom's rules. It's not that I don't care about the rules, it's just… I was curious about the basement, and now I just want to make her life easier._

 _It's alright, Lira. We know,_ Adva soothed.

Spark hummed thoughtfully. _Is there a map somewhere in all these books? Maybe we can figure out how long a trip to Waterfall would take._

“Oh! Yes, I think I may have seen one, give me a moment.” I ran over to the bookshelf and brushed my fingertips over the books' spines, finally grabbing a thick tome with the words 'The Underground' etched onto it. I opened it to the very first page and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which I spread out on the floor in front of us.

The map was large. It depicted a vast, sprawling network of tunnels and caverns, labeled such things as 'The CORE' and 'New Home.' I soon located the place where the cartographer had written 'The Ruins,' and realized for the first time how small our home was compared to the rest of the Underground.

 _Okay… so, looking at the map key… Snowdin doesn't look all that big. There's a forest, then a small town, and then a path directly to Waterfall,_ Adva mused.

Spark hummed thoughtfully. _We could get to Waterfall and come back in a day. Maybe we could go and come back before Mom even realizes we're gone._

Ebony was quiet for a moment, then chimed in with _Wait a second. Didn't Mom say she was going on a trip soon?_

“What do you mean?”

_Remember she said she needed some supplies? She was going to be gone for like two days. That could be our moment to do this._

_As long as she's not going to Snowdin or Waterfall,_ Spark pointed out.

I shook my head. “No, she said it was in the Ruins, but in the place where most of the other monsters live, such as the Froggits and the Vegetoids. We went there once on an overnight bug hunting trip, remember?”

 _Oh yeah!_ Lira chirped. _I remember that! That was a lot of fun._

 _So you think that this trip is our opportunity?_ Adva asked.

_Yeah, I do._

Spark sighed. _Well, if we're going to do this, I don't think we're going to get a better opportunity than that. We'll have to be ready to leave as soon as she does, and we_ can't _let her know what we're planning. She would try to stop us, and it would spoil the surprise._

“Agreed.” I put the book away, replacing the map so Toriel wouldn't get suspicious. “Though I still can't say I am completely comfortable with this idea.”

 _I just want to make Mom's life easier,_ Lira said quietly. _She does so much for us. I just… want to do things for her, too. If… If this isn't a good idea, we don't have to do it. It was just a thought._

We were all quiet for a moment.

 _… I think it's a good idea,_ Ebony admitted.

_You do?_

_Yeah. I do. I think it really would help Mom out, and I'll admit that I'm getting a little antsy being cooped up in the Ruins all the time. Maybe getting to stretch my legs for a bit would help me settle again._

Adva hummed. _I think we've all been getting a bit antsy. You're right, I think we need this._

I took a deep breath. “… Okay. Okay, I'll go along with it.”

 _Okay._ Lira's voice took on a more decisive tone. _Let's do this, then._

… What had I just agreed to?…


	5. Disobedience and Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A promise is broken. A deal is made. The girls encounter new enemies.

It was time. Over the past several days, we had been quietly preparing for our trip. Mostly, that consisted of earning gold from the monsters around the Ruins and buying food from the spider bake sale. Our supplies consisted of 100 gold, the mineral book, five spider donuts, two containers of spider cider, and a Loyal Customer card from the spiders who ran the bake sale, all tucked into an old backpack we found underneath our bed. We also had our journal and some of the toys from our room packed and ready to go.

And now, it was finally time.

“Goodbye, my children! I will see you soon.” Toriel gave us five huge hugs, giving us time to switch control between each hug so that we each got one. “I've left you a slice of pie in the kitchen. Be good, alright?”

“No promises,” Ebony chuckled.

Toriel giggled. “Of course. I love you all very much.”

I took control again. “We love you too, Mom. See you in a few days.”

She gave us one last hug, brushing us with healing magic, then left, waving goodbye as she did so.

I went to the window and waved until she was out of sight. Then, I turned and slowly made my way to the kitchen.

Sure enough, there was a slice of cinnamon-butterscotch pie sitting on the counter. It was still steaming slightly. I grabbed a Tupperware container and scooped the pie into it, snapping the lid down over it, then carried it into our room. I pulled the backpack out from under our bed and stuck the pie inside.

Tiger quietly went over our list of supplies, making sure each item was in the backpack. They were.

I pulled a note out of the backpack and ran to the living room to leave it on the table. It was a quick explanation of what we were doing and where we had gone, as well as an apology. The note was our fail-safe in case we were gone longer than we planned.

Then I went back to our room, pulled the backpack on, and made my way downstairs.

At the end of the long hallway stood the purple door, standing as tall and lonely as ever. I rested my hand on the smooth, metallic surface. And then I hesitated.

“… This is it,” I murmured.

_This is our last chance to turn back,_ Spark agreed at the same volume. _Once we go through that door, we're committed. We can't come back to Mom empty-handed and tell her we broke our promise for no reason._

_… Adva? I'm kind of scared,_ Lira admitted.

“I know. I am too. But we agreed to this, didn't we? We agreed this was a good idea,” I reasoned, trying to convince myself as much as Lira.

Very gently, Ebony took partial control. _We should do this together._

_Yes, we should._ Spark came forward as well.

Lira and Tiger wordlessly joined us.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “For Mom.”

_For Mom._

And together, as one, we pushed the door open.

~ ~ ~

The first thing that registered was the cold. The ground was covered with snow, we realized. We huddled down into the sweater we were wearing (green with blue stripes, made for us by Toriel). The others slowly relinquished control as I closed the door behind us and began trudging along a snow-covered path.

Lira was the first to say something. _Wow… I think this is Snowdin Forest. Look how pretty it is!_

_Snowdin is a very appropriate name,_ Tiger noted.

I smiled around at the trees as I walked. _I agree, it's quite beautiful._

_So, Tiger, how big is the forest?_ Ebony asked.

_From what I saw, it shouldn't take us long to get through it._

Spark drew our attention to the path ahead. _Guys, look at that!_

It was a stick. A large stick, lying across our path.

_Walking stick?_ Lira asked hopefully.

I shook my head. _No, not the right shape. It's too thick. Besides, it looks really heavy._

She sighed. _I guess you're right. Over we go, then._

I stepped carefully over the stick and continued walking, but I had only gone a few yards before there was a resounding **_crack_** behind us. I tensed and whirled around.

The stick was shattered into a hundred tiny pieces.

For a moment, we were frozen. Then Ebony nudged at me, requesting control. I gave it to her.

*

Ebony

*

I started walking, eyes firmly on the path ahead of me. I wasn't quite sure what was happening, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to get the best of me. I wouldn't let it.

Footsteps, behind us.

I tensed, but I didn't react. Not yet. From the sound of the footsteps, they weren't in range for me to grab them, and alerting them that I knew they were there wasn't to our advantage.

_Please be careful, Eb,_ Spark whispered.

The footsteps vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and for all intents and purposes, we were alone again. I didn't let down my guard, though.

_There, up ahead. What's that?_ Adva asked.

Sure enough, there was something ahead. A bridge, it looked like, but with a gate-like thing over it. It didn't look very functional. The bars were huge and too far apart to stop anyone our size. I quickened my pace. Hopefully, whatever was following us was bigger than me. This might be our chance to escape.

But just as I stepped onto the bridge, I felt… something. I felt fuzzy and heavy and I couldn't move. I tried to struggle, but nothing happened. I couldn't so much as twitch my finger.

_Eb, what's wrong?_ Adva demanded. _We all feel funny, is that why you stopped? We need to keep moving, whoever's behind us might -_

Footsteps.

I was helpless. Totally and completely helpless. I started to panic.

Adva, for once not asking my permission, assumed control.

*

Adva

*

As soon as I took control, I felt the full force of the odd sensation, and I understood why Ebony had stopped. We were being held still by… something. Probably magic. I also understood why she had started to panic.

“H u m a n.”

I swallowed hard. They knew what we were. Of course they did, how could they not? And… why did I get the feeling that I knew the person behind us, whoever they were?

“D o n ' t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w p a l ? T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d.”

The fuzzy, heavy feeling lifted, just slightly. I could move again, though it was like moving through half-set jello. I turned.

The figure behind me was shadowy and indistinct, though I could see that he – it sounded like a he – had his hand out.

I reached out and took his hand.

And suddenly, the funny feeling was gone, and there was a long, drawn-out fart noise.

I let out a hiccupy laugh out of pure shock.

The figure chuckled too, and shifted his weight so that he wasn't in the shadows anymore. It was a skeleton. An honest-to-goodness animated skeleton, his teeth bared in a permanent grin. He was wearing a blue hoodie and… were those pink slippers?

“Whoopie cushion in the hand trick,” the skeleton told me, holding up his hand to display the miniature whoopie cushion taped to the palm. “It's always funny.”

I blinked and tilted my head to one side, my surprise gradually overcoming my fear. I _did_ know who this was. “… Sans?”

He blinked back at me. I heard Tiger mutter something about malleable facial bones. Then his grin widened as he stuck his hand back in his hoodie pocket. “Well, how about that. It's the kid from the ruins. What're you doing out here in Snowdin?”

“I'm going to Waterfall,” I explained, indescribably glad that I had found the one person we actually knew outside of the Ruins. “You wouldn't happen to know how to get there, would you?”

“Waterfall, huh? What's so interesting about Waterfall?”

I hesitated. How much to tell him? “Well… I'm going there to get a present for my mom. The nice lady who tells jokes. There's this special rock that you can supposedly only find in Waterfall, and if I can get some, it'll make her life a lot easier.”

Sans winked. “I getcha. Sure, I'll help you out. But I need you to do me a favor first.”

“What sort of favor?”

“I've told you about my brother Papyrus, right?”

I nodded. “Lots of times.”

“Well, he's been feeling kinda down lately, and seeing a human like you would make his day. He's set on capturing one. How about it?”

That didn't settle well with me. “What, you want me to let him catch me?”

He chuckled. “Nah. Pap isn't dangerous, even if he tries to be. You're smart and you like puzzles, right?”

“Yeah…?” Tiger did, anyway.

“Then you'll be fine. Don't worry, he won't hurt you. You just need to play along for a bit.”

I hesitated. _Guys?_

_I say we go for it! Sans is trustworthy,_ Lira assured me.

_He is our friend, and he knows how to get to Waterfall. He will help us if we help him. This course of action seems logical,_ Tiger decided.

Ebony sighed. _We can't fight him, and I really don't feel like wandering around without a sense of direction._

Spark hummed thoughtfully. _Monsters like Sans and Toriel use a kind of monster-speak too, just one that humans can naturally understand. The principles of normal monster-speak still apply. I don't sense any malicious intent._

“So I just… go along with your brother's shenanigans… and you'll take me to Waterfall?” I asked carefully.

Sans nodded. “I'll make sure you get there safe.”

Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I decided I would take it. “Deal.”

“Great. Just head on through this gate thing. Pap made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”

I nodded and crossed the bridge.

Sans shooed me behind a large lamp (just our size) as another skeleton, at least a foot and a half taller than us, came around a corner and started berating him for neglecting his puzzles.

“C'mon, bro, I've gotten a ton of work done today. A skele-ton.”

Ebony wrestled away control of our mouth so I couldn't laugh.

“SANS! Now is NOT the time for your puns!” Papyrus complained.

“It's always a pun-derful time for puns.”

I started giggling, but thanks to Ebony's iron grip on our vocal cords, we were the only ones who could hear it. Good thing she wasn't really amused by puns. Otherwise the whole situation might have been a pun-mitigated disaster!

Papyrus sighed. “Brother, we must not neglect our puzzles! What if a human comes through and we're not ready for them?? I must be the one to capture it! That way, I can finally become part of the Royal Guard! I will have lots of friends, and I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning! The king will carve a hedge in the shape of my smile!”

“You're the coolest, bro,” Sans agreed.

_The coolest. A really_ ice _guy,_ I snickered.

_Advaaaa, stop it! We can't laugh!_ Lira scolded me. _No punning for now._

_Fine._

“Now, I must be off! As for your work, put a little more… BACKBONE into it! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!” Papyrus cackled, dashing away.

Sans waited for a moment, then glanced over at me. “You can come out now, kid.”

Ebony relinquished her partial control, and I started giggling again, out loud this time.

“Isn't my brother cool?” he asked mildly.

I stifled my giggles and left the shelter of the lamp. “Yeah, he's great. He's a lot like you described him.”

_He seems nice,_ Spark noted. _What's the Royal Guard? It sounds like a thing I'd like._

“What's the Royal Guard?” I asked.

“Oh, it's the king's peace-keeping force. They keep order, protect the citizens, that sort of thing.” Sans shrugged. “My bro really wants to be a part of it. Always has.”

Spark began making tiny, happy squealing sounds.

I smiled. “That sounds awesome.”

“Yeah. But speaking of Papyrus, you'd better get going. He might come back soon, and then you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.” Sans winked at me, then made tiny little shooing motions. “Go on, I'll catch up.”

I didn’t really want to – Papyrus was still a relative unknown, after all, and at least I knew Sans had no desire to hurt us – but I reluctantly nodded and headed down the path after the taller skeleton.

Ebony took just enough control to glance back over our shoulder – and our blood ran cold.

Sans was gone. Poof, just like that. Like he’d never been there in the first place.

We walked faster.

~ ~ ~

We soon came across a box sitting at a fork in the path, helpfully labeled with a sign.

_‘This is a box,’_ Spark read. _‘You can put an item in or take one out. The same box will appear again later, so don’t worry about coming back. Sincerely, a box lover.’_

_It is a very pretty box,_ Lira reasoned.

I smiled. _Let’s see what’s inside and decide if we want to leave anything._

The box was mostly empty; the only thing inside was a pair of thick-looking gloves. I picked one up and hefted it in my hand.

_They look kind of like boxing gloves,_ Spark noted, sounding confused. _Why are there boxing gloves sitting in a box in the middle of Snowdin Forest?_

_I’m not sure,_ I admitted, carefully putting the gloves back and closing the box.

Ebony huffed. _I don’t like it. It gives me the same feeling as that box of shoes in Mom’s house._

_Let’s not start the discussion about the shoes again_ , I sighed. We had already had this discussion multiple times, and we had never managed to agree if they were weird or upsetting or what. We had eventually just shoved the box under our bed so we wouldn’t have to look at it anymore. _There’s a more important discussion at hand. Left or right?_

_Right!_ Lira decided excitedly.

The others gave me the mental equivalent of shrugs, so I turned right.

I had barely taken two steps when a large, snowy shape jumped out from behind the trees and dragged us into an encounter.

_That’s a snowdrake, I think,_ Spark told us nervously.

_Adva._ Ebony’s voice had taken on a serious edge I hadn’t heard in weeks. _Let me take over._

I stepped back and allowed her to take control.

*

Ebony

*

The heart in front of us flickered into my distinctive green and orange, and I felt myself falling into a familiar sparring stance. _Okay, Spark, talk me through it._

_I think it’s going to go first, just dodge as best you can._

Sure enough, the snowdrake cackled and let out a burst of icy projectiles. “Better not snow ‘flake’ out!!!”

_Was that… a pun?_ Adva asked slowly.

Lira gasped. _I think it was!_

_Guys, focus!_ I snapped, rolling out of the way of another ice blast. _Fight now, joke later!_

_No, no, I think they might be on to something,_ Tiger said suddenly. _Think about it, why would the snowdrake tell us a pun?_

“‘Snow’ way are you gonna win!” the snowdrake jeered.

_Eb, let us laugh._

_What?_

_Let us laugh at the puns!_

I had no idea what they had in mind, but I also had no idea what to do instead. I relinquished control of the vocal cords.

Instantly, Lira’s laughter bubbled out of our throat. She sounded so infectiously happy that I found myself chuckling along with her.

The snowdrake brightened and began to softly glow yellow. “Laughs! Dad was wrong, I _can_ be a comedian!”

“Yes you can!” Lira assured it. The orange border on our SOUL grew smaller as she edged closer to control. “And I would really rather not fight you.”

Nodding happily, the snowdrake hurried off, leaving some coins on the ground.

I scooped them up. _Well that was… something._

_I think it has real potential! It should follow its dreams!_

‘ _Course you do, Ly. Want to take over for a bit?_

_Yes!!!_

*

Lira

*

As I took full control, I let out a full-body wiggle of excitement. This was so much fun so far!! Aside from Sans scaring us, and that hadn’t been so bad after all. It was hard to see why Mom had been so insistent on us staying in the Ruins.

Humming happily to myself, I continued down the path and turned the corner, running smack into Sans and Papyrus.

“So as I was saying about Undyne -…” Papyrus cut himself off as we came into view, stopped for a second, and then he and Sans began alternating between looking at us and looking at each other so fast it made my head spin.

After a minute, they stopped, and Papyrus pulled Sans around to face away from us, dropping into a loud stage whisper. “Sans, oh my gosh! Is that… a _human?????_ ”

“I think that’s a rock, bro,” Sans replied at the same volume.

Papyrus glanced back at us, squinting suspiciously. “Oh.”

“But wait, what’s that in front of the rock?”

“Oh my gosh!!!” Papyrus was almost vibrating with excitement, but then he paused and turned back to Sans, dropping back to the stage whisper. “Is… is _that_ a human?”

“Yes.”

“OH MY GOSH!!!!!” He started doing my excited thing! The one where I bounce up and down on my toes! “Sans, I finally did it!! Undyne will… I’m gonna… I’ll be so… Popular! Popular! Popular!!!” Then he seemed to realize what he was doing, stopped, and cleared his throat. “Ahem. Human!! You shall not pass this area!! I, the great Papyrus, will stop you!!!”

Ebony groaned. _Oh, no, he’s like a combination Spark and Lira._

_I like him!_ I declared, giving a bounce of my own.

“I will then capture you!” Papyrus continued. “You will be delivered to the capital! I’m… not sure what’s next. But in any case! Continue… only if you dare!!! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!!!!!” He sprinted away laughing.

_… The capital? Why would we be delivered to the capital?_ Spark asked quietly.

_I’m not sure, but I don’t think I like it. Ly, we need to be careful,_ Adva warned.

I hummed thoughtfully, wandering over to Sans. “Hi, Sans.”

“Hey, kid. That went well. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya.” He winked, then turned to leave.

“Wait!”

He paused, glancing back at us. “Yeah?”

“Why would we be taken to the capital?” I asked. “Are humans really that important?”

Sans, having a skull for a face, couldn’t really stop smiling. But it looked like his smile dimmed for a second before he forced it back. “Dunno. I don’t really worry about that kind of stuff, you know? All I know is that humans are really rare down here. I wouldn’t sweat it, though, you’re only going as far as Waterfall.” And with that, he left.

The silence sounded a lot louder than our talking had.

_Well, thanks for asking, Ly,_ Spark told me.

_Did you see his face?_ Ebony growled. _He obviously knows more than he’s letting on._

_Maybe he has a good reason to not tell us?_ I suggested.

_Like what, to lead us into a trap? Keep us complacent?_

_Alright, that’s enough!_ Adva’s voice was sharp, but quickly softened again. _Let’s focus on one thing at a time. Tiger, where are we headed?_

_Well, right now, we need to get through Snowdin Forest, then through the town of Snowdin itself. After that, we will practically be in Waterfall,_ Tiger told us.

“Then let’s go!” I started walking again, humming my little walking tune. “We aren’t getting anywhere just sitting around and talking about it.”

After a few more minutes of walking, we came to a guard post with a sign out front.

_‘Absolutely NO MOVING!’_ Spark read. _Huh. I wonder what that means._

I shrugged and took a few steps forward.

A dog leapt out from inside the guard post, twin daggers held high. “Did something move???? I can only see moving things…”

I froze mid-step, almost scared to breathe.

“If something moved… for example, a human… I’ll make sure it never moves again!!” the dog growled, pulling us into an encounter as Ebony took control.

*

Ebony

*

I assumed my fighting stance again. The sight of the dog’s knives made my hand itch for the toy knife tucked away in a back pocket of our backpack, easily reachable for situations like this. But no, that would mean we intended to win through force, and the others would hate that. I ignored the instinct and focused back on the fight.

A blue dagger came whistling through the air at us. I dodged instinctively, but I misjudged and it hit my arm. Gosh, that _hurt_ ; it wasn’t as bad as Flowey, but it was _way_ worse than the Froggits and Napstablook _._ Spark had said that for monsters, attacks were about intent, and since my sparring partners didn’t really want to hurt me, they hadn’t done a lot of damage. This dog, though…

Speaking of the dog, he was freaking out. “Moving!! Moving!! Something moving!!”

_Ebony, you have to stay still!_ Tiger hissed.

_You want me to stay still when he’s throwing knives at me??_

_Yes! Trust me!_

Another knife. I almost dodged again, but forced myself to stay still. Tiger hadn’t led us astray yet.

The knife… passed harmlessly through my chest.

_What the hell?_

_I knew it!_ Tiger sounded almost giddy. _These are blue attacks! There was something about them in one of Mom’s books. They cannot hurt you if you don’t move!_

It was our turn. I racked my brains trying to think of something to do – it seemed like there was something you could do for every monster to get them to leave you alone. _What do you do to calm down a dog?_

_… Pet it?_ Lira offered hesitantly.

Spark laughed. _I mean she’s not wrong._

What did we have to lose? I carefully inched toward the dog, freezing whenever he sent out another blue attack. Finally, I was close enough to reach out and scratch him under the chin.

He _flipped out._ He began spouting off nonsense words, swinging a blue attack around willy-nilly, trying desperately to find me. When I didn’t move, he slowly calmed down, muttering about needing dog treats and being pet by something that isn’t moving. He slunk back to his post, leaving a hefty amount of gold behind.

I stayed perfectly still until he was out of sight, then stuffed the gold in my pocket and speed-walked away.

_That was_ amazing, _Eb!!!_ Lira squealed.

Adva’s praise was calmer, but just as heartfelt. _Well done. And well done Tiger and Lira for figuring out what to do._

I shrugged, trying to fight down the heat rising in my cheeks. _It was nothing. We make a pretty good team out here._

_We do,_ Spark agreed. _Watch out, Waterfall, we’re on our way!_


	6. Snow and Puzzles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiger's time to shine!

We ran into Sans again shortly after the dog encounter. He was leaned against a tree by a frozen pond, seemingly without a care in the world. He cracked one eye open as we approached, his grin growing a little bigger. “Hey, kid.”

“Hi.”

“Ah, c’mon, why the long face?”

I bit back the instinctive retort and forced myself to take a deep breath. “I-… It’s just cold out here. I’m not used to snow. Why are you here?”

Sans raised a brow ridge at me but didn’t comment. “Wanted to let you know that my brother has a very special attack. If you see a blue attack, don’t move and it won’t hurt you.”

“That would’ve been nice to know about ten minutes ago,” I grumbled, ignoring the whispers of ‘be nice.’

“Oh?” Sans sounded supremely unconcerned. “Didja have a run in with one of the dogs?”

“… ‘One of’ the dogs? There are more?”

He nodded. “Oh yeah. Doggo’s a bit of a special case, though. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure.” I pushed past him and started for the pond.

“C’mon, kid, no need to give me the cold shoulder!”

“Very funny Sans!” I called, not even bothering to look back. I didn’t get a response, and was too irritated to care. He was probably gone again. I wasn’t going to look behind me to check.

 _Ebby, that was rude,_ Lira pouted.

_I don’t care._

_Eb. I know you don’t really trust him, but you need to not be so openly hostile,_ Adva said gently. _The last time we saw him, Lira was in charge. It hasn’t been all that long since then. He’s probably confused why we swung so quickly from optimistic and giggly to guarded and snippy._

I sighed, carefully testing the thickness of the ice. _I know. You’re right, but… Ay, I don’t like this. Any of it. It’s so hard for me to protect you all when I don’t know what’s going on or how to handle the monsters we encounter._

 _That’s why we’re here!_ Spark piped up. _We help when we can, and you’ve been doing a great job of keeping us safe in the meantime. How’s that arm, by the way?_

It twinged as she drew my attention back to it. _Fine._

_You sure? It stung when you got hit._

I decided not to trust the ice and walked around the pond, noting that the sign in the center said Snowdin Town was to the east. _I’m sure._

If anyone didn’t believe me, they decided not to comment.

I stepped out of the trees to see Sans and Papyrus waiting for us. They were standing on the other side of a square area that had been mostly cleared of snow.

Papyrus paused in berating Sans for his laziness when he saw us. “Oh-ho! The human arrives!! In order to stop you, my brother and I have created some puzzles!!”

Tiger perked up. _Puzzles?_

Papyrus struck a silly superhero pose, holding out a clear blue orb of some kind. “I think you will find this one quite… _shocking._ For you see, this is the invisible electricity maze!!! When you touch the walls of the maze, this orb will administer a hearty zap!! Sound like fun??”

“No.”

“Good! Because the amount of fun you will probably have is actually rather small, I think. Okay, you can go ahead now!!”

 _May I try?_ Tiger asked hesitantly.

 _… I guess._ I handed over control.

*

Tiger

*

Okay. Okay, this wouldn’t be as bad as it looked… right? I glanced up at Papyrus, who was grinning encouragingly at me. The orb was… still in his hand. Wait…

I carefully reached forward and made contact with something solid.

Papyrus yelped as the orb crackled with electricity, zapping its holder like it was supposed to. “Sans, what did you do??”

Sans chuckled. “I think the human has to hold the orb, bro.”

“Oh! Okay!!”

Papyrus quickly maneuvered his way through the invisible maze, pushed the orb into my hand and told me to “Hold this please!”, then hurried back. The area was _mostly_ clear of snow, but there was just enough left on the ground that he left a trail for me to follow. He got back to his original position and beamed at me. “Okay, try now!”

I hesitated. This felt like cheating. As dangerous as it sounded, I had sort of wanted to solve the maze myself. But our safety came before my desire to puzzle-solve, so I began carefully making my way through the maze, following Papyrus’ large footprints. “S-So, um, how did you, um… do this? Make the orb remote activated, I mean?”

“Oh!!! A puzzle enthusiast!!!! Well you see, human, it was made with electricity magic! The walls send a magical signal to the orb, which zaps you! It is very high-tech and quite useful!!”

“Then you will probably want this back.” I held the orb out to him.

He stared down at it, dumbfounded. “Wowie!! I didn’t even notice that you’d solved it! And so quickly!! You are a slippery snail indeed, human, but do not worry! The next puzzle will not be so easy! It was designed by my brother, Sans! You will surely be confounded!! I know I am… And thank you for returning the orb, I will need it for puzzles in the future.” He took it and ran away, cackling that funny laugh of his again.

“Hey, thanks,” Sans told me once his brother was gone. “He seems like he’s having fun. You do too.”

“W-Well, puzzles are interesting! There are a lot of them in the Ruins,” I explained, unable to help the nervous dip in volume at the end of my sentence. “M-My apologies, I… I know you probably d-don’t want to hear about it.”

“I live with the biggest puzzle enthusiast in the whole Underground, I’m used to a little rambling about puzzles.” Sans’ tone was light, but it had lost just a little of its casual air; he sounded serious, and a little sad. He quickly snapped back to his usual nonchalance, though, as he said “Did you see that weird outfit he’s wearing? That’s the costume we made for that costume party I told you about a few weeks back.”

I frowned. “Th-The one you said he didn’t want to take off?”

“Yup. And he hasn’t. Keeps calling it his ‘battle body.’”

I let out a surprised giggle. “That is… unique.”

Sans nodded. “Yeah, he’s the coolest. Anyway, you’d better go see what other puzzles he’s cooking up. Catch you later.”

By this point I had mostly stopped trying to figure out how Sans got from place to place, so I merely nodded and continued on.

A bright flash of color caught our attention, and we turned to look at a cart of some sort with a large, colorful umbrella, manned by a human-sized rabbit. He looked sad.

When he saw us, the rabbit brightened. “Oh! A customer!! Hello, would you like some Nice Cream? It’s the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just fifteen gold!”

 _Yes yes yes!!! We haven’t had ice cream in_ forever _!!_ Lira squealed.

“U-Um… yes, I think I would like some, could you give me a moment to see how much gold I have?” I asked.

“Absolutely, take your time!”

I thanked him and turned out our pockets. With the 100 we had brought with us, as well as the coins from the snowdrake and Doggo, we now had 130. _I think we should buy two. That will bring us back to what we had when we set out._

 _Makes sense to me,_ Adva laughed. _Go ahead, buy two._

I carefully tucked our original 100 gold back into our backpack, then handed the vendor the remaining thirty. “Two, please.”

He handed me two ice cream bars, wrapped carefully in plastic. “Here you go, have a super-duper day!!”

“Thank you, you as well.” I put the Nice Creams in our backpack and continued on, giving the rabbit vendor a small wave as I left.

 _He was really nice!_ Lira declared. _I’m glad we bought something. Hey Tiger, can I eat one of the Nice Creams?_

 _That is a discussion for the rest of you,_ I told her, making my way across a small wooden bridge. _Rock paper scissors for it if you feel you must._

Adva, as ever, kept us on task. _We’ll worry about that when we stop to eat. Look, there’s Sans._

“Hey, kid. I’ve been considering selling treats too,” Sans told us from his spot leaned against another tree. “Want some fried snow? Only five gold.”

“U-Um… well… I suppose?...”

“Oh, did I say five? I meant fifty.”

 _WHAT???_ Ebony took control of the mouth long enough to say “Hell no,” then gave it back.

Sans shrugged. “Figured you wouldn’t go for it, but you can’t blame me for trying. By the way, off to your right over there is just guard stations, you’ll want to go south. And watch out for the dog marriage.”

“The… the what?”

“Dog marriage. Now off you go, don’t want to keep my brother waiting.”

I blinked in confusion, then slowly headed south. Dog… marriage? It turned out I didn’t have long to focus on the strange idea, though, because as soon as I turned a corner Sans and Papyrus were waiting for us again.

“Human!!” Papyrus declared, striking another superhero pose. “I hope you’re ready for…” He paused, surveying the ground in front of us.

There wasn’t much there, really; a small piece of paper was all that stood between us and the skeletons.

“Sans!” Papyrus snapped. “Where is the puzzle?”

“’S right there, on the ground,” Sans said mildly. “Trust me, there’s no way they can get past this one.”

Casting hesitant glances up at them, I walked over to the paper and picked it up. It appeared to be a word search of some kind, but I saw immediately it wasn’t solvable – one of the words to find was a line’s worth of utter nonsense, and the only line that came close was off by a letter.

 _Do we really have to solve it?_ Ebony asked after a moment. _I mean there’s no consequences this time._

Again, it felt like cheating, but I wanted to progress. So I folded the word search into a neat square, walked over to Papyrus, and handed it to him.

Papyrus took it, probably out of reflex, then turned to Sans in a huff. “Sans!! That didn’t do anything!!!”

Sans shrugged. “Whoops. Knew I should have used today’s crossword instead.”

“What!! I can’t believe you said that! In my opinion, Junior Jumble is easily the hardest.”

“What?” Sans snorted. “Really, dude? That easy-peasy word scramble? That’s for baby bones.”

Papyrus stomped his foot. “Un. Believable.” Then he whirled on me, causing me to take a half-step backwards. “Human!!! Solve this dispute!!”

“U-Um… W-Well, I, um…” I took a deep breath, trying desperately to settle my nerves. “W-Well, I think each is, is h-hard in its own w-way. And. And some people are good a-at one and not the other, and… I-I think it is important to… to not make fun of people b-because they find something difficult that you find easy, because they probably find something easy that you find difficult. And I- um… Are… are you alright?”

Papyrus was staring at me with tears in his eyes, a hand over his heart. Or where his heart would be if he weren’t a skeleton. “H-Human that was beautiful!!!! Thank you for opening my eyes. You are quite right!! It is important to remember that different people have different skill sets!!! I will endeavor to remember that in the future. But for now I must attend to my own skill set: setting puzzle traps!! Nyeh heh heh!!!!” He ran off once again, disappearing from view.

Sans turned to me, almost looking impressed. “Wow, kid. You’ve got a real mature outlook.”

I fought back an embarrassed blush. “I-It’s nothing, really, that is just… how I feel.”

“Heh. Well, you’d better keep going. I hear he’s got a real good trap up ahead.”

“A-Ah. Thank you for the warning. I will… see you around.”

“See ya.”

I continued on, my chest feeling a little lighter.

 _Wow, Tiger, I haven’t seen you open up like that in a while,_ Spark said gently. _You good?_

_Yes. I simply have not encountered a false dichotomy like that for a while, and while I know it was likely good-natured…_

_Yeah,_ Ebony interrupted softly. _We get it._

And they did get it. That was the good part of sharing a body with someone; they understood you as well as you understood yourself.

Lira, of course, was the one to break the bittersweet spell. _Look! Is that Papyrus’ trap?_

The ‘trap’ was two small tables set up next to each other, one with a plate of spaghetti and one with a microwave. I picked up the small note next to the spaghetti.

 _‘Human!!’_ Spark read. _‘Please enjoy this spaghetti. (Little do you know, this spaghetti is a trap, designed to entice you!!! You’ll be so busy eating it, you won’t realize you aren’t progressing!! Thoroughly japed again by the great Papyrus!!!) Nyeh-heh-heh, Papyrus.’_

 _Wow,_ Ebony snorted.

Lira giggled. _Smart! And that spaghetti looks good, I say we try it!_

I carefully picked up a fork – Papyrus had been thoughtful and left us silverware and a napkin – and poked at the spaghetti.

There was a soft _crunch_ sound.

I frowned and poked it again. “Frozen solid.”

 _Can you put it in the microwave?_ Spark suggested.

I set down the fork and tried to lift the plate, but it was frozen to the table. Then I took a closer look at the microwave and noticed that it was unplugged. _No, it does not appear that I can._

 _Aww, I wanted spaghetti,_ Lira whined.

 _No spaghetti for us. But it must be past lunch time by now, so food might not be a bad idea,_ Adva pointed out.

I nodded and sat down with my back against a nearby small cliff. It felt nice to sit after walking for so long. I quickly looked through our supplies. _We have spider donuts, spider cider, Mom’s pie, and the Nice Cream._

We discussed for a moment, then decided on pie and cider. It was the most filling of our food options.

I ate as quickly as I could, but I also used the opportunity to enjoy the scenery. It was a beautiful day; the snow was sparkling a clean, fresh white, coating everything like a layer of sugar. The smells of winter and pine were everywhere, and the air was crisp and cold.

 _It feels like being outside again,_ I noted quietly. _… I missed it._

 _Me too,_ Adva agreed at the same volume. The others added their affirmations as well.

All too soon, though, I had finished the pie and a third of our cider, and we were ready to continue forward. Our time was a quarter gone.

The next area was suspiciously clear of traps, but we quickly ran into a line of spikes. Just like the Ruins. I looked around for something out of the ordinary… There, under that section of snow! I wiped the snow away, revealing a map of some kind. It appeared to depict the area where we currently were, with a large red X up in the upper right corner.

I hurried up to the marked area, and sure enough, a lever was hidden under the snow. I flipped it and walked back to the spikes. Sure enough, they had retracted, and I was able to move forward.

Then, two large figures emerged from the trees, brandishing axes with blades as big as our head. Each wore a sinister black, hooded cloak. They began sniffing around me, and I realized with a sinking feeling in my gut that they were dogs as well.

“What’s that smell?” one of them growled.

“Where’s that smell?” the other added.

“If you’re a smell…”

“… Identify yoursmellf!”

One of the huge dogs stuck its nose in my face, blowing our hair out of our face with the force of its breath. “ _Here’s_ that weird smell. It makes me want to eliminate…”

“… Eliminate _you_!” the other dog snarled, and we were pulled into an encounter.

It was our turn first. I took a deep, deep breath, my mind racing. Okay, how to fight two large, muscly dogs with giant axes… maybe act like something non-threatening? What’s non-threatening to a dog monster?

 _Puppies are non-threatening!_ Lira supplied helpfully.

Okay. Puppies. I could work with puppies. What did puppies do? They play-fought (unhelpful), they needed training before they could become pets (also unhelpful), they –

I froze.

The dogs operated on smell.

Without a second more hesitation, I dropped to the ground and began rolling around in the dirt and snow.

 _What are you_ doing _???_ Ebony demanded.

 _Disguising my scent, I hope!_ I gave one last good wriggle, smeared a handful of dirty snow down our face, and stood back up.

The dogs hesitated, their axes lowering slightly. They sniffed the air again, one of them almost burying their nose in our hair to get a good whiff.

“You smell…” one started.

“… Like a weird puppy,” the other finished.

I almost collapsed again in relief.

“Hm.” They continued sniffing.

Cautiously, remembering how we had ultimately been able to spare the first dog, I reached out and gave the closest dog a scratch behind the ear.

He stiffened, shocked. “Wow!! Pet by another pup!!”

“Don’t leave me out,” the other dog huffed, and I obligingly gave her a good scratch as well.

The two exchanged a glance, then looked back at us. “We hadn’t considered before that dogs could pet other dogs. Thank you, weird puppy.” They turned and walked away, giving each other kisses on the cheek, leaving behind a pile of gold.

I took it carefully and hurried on.

 _Tiger, you never cease to amaze me,_ Adva said in wonder. _How in the world did you think of that?_

_It was quite simple, really. Puppies often roll around in the dirt, and then when I realized that these dogs operate using smell, like Doggo operated using movement, I realized that if I could disguise our scent, they likely wouldn’t attack us anymore. And it appears I was correct._

_That’s not simple at all!_ Spark huffed. _Don’t downplay your achievements, Ty._

I was about to answer, but got distracted from the conversation by my first look at the next area; there was a small, simple puzzle on the ground with the instructions ‘Turn every X into an O, then press the switch.’

I considered the puzzle. Two Xs, separated by rocks. I stepped carefully on one, and it turned into an O. I walked around and stepped on the other, and it turned into an O as well. Then I hit the switch, both Os turned green, and the spikes separating us from the next area retracted.

“Papyrus?” I asked, surprised to see the skeleton alone.

“Oh! Human!! How did you get past my expertly-designed trap?? And more importantly… is there any left for me?”

I hesitated. “Um… W-Well, I… yes?...”

_Real smooth, Tiger._

“Really???? Wowie!! You resisted the flavor of my home-cooked pasta just so you could share it with me?? Fret not, human! I, master chef Papyrus, will make you all the pasta you could ever want!! But, ah, first…” He gestured for me to follow him, and I reluctantly did so. It seemed Papyrus liked to talk, because he quickly began to chat: “My brother started a sock collection recently. How saddening. Sometimes I wonder what he would do without such a cool guy taking care of him!!”

“H-He talks about you a lot, you know,” I told him.

Papyrus laughed. “Of course he does! I’m the great Papyrus, after all!” Then, after a moment, something much shyer came forward. “… What does he say?”

“He says that you are very cool, an-and brave, and smart,” I listed, counting points on my fingers. “A-And you are going to be a great royal guardsman one day.”

“Well naturally!!!” Papyrus puffed out his chest and strode forward, making me scramble a bit to catch up. “I am going to be a _wonderful_ guardsman!! The best there has ever been!!!”

We reached the next puzzle, of the same type as the last but on a much larger scale.

Papyrus hemmed and hawed for a moment. “Human… how do I say this… You were taking a long time to arrive, so I decided to improve this puzzle by arranging the snow to look more like my face! Unfortunately, the snow froze to the ground. Now the solution is different! And, as usual, my lazy brother is nowhere around. I suppose what I am saying is… Worry not, human! For I, the great Papyrus, will solve this conundrum!! Then we can both proceed! In the meantime, I know you are a puzzle enthusiast as well, so feel free to try it yourself!! I’ll try not to give away the answer.”

I nodded, then walked slowly over to the puzzle. It was large, and complicated, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t be as easy as it looked. To test that theory, I stepped on an X twice. Sure enough, the second time it became a triangle, and stepping on it again had no effect. Luckily, hitting the switch when you didn’t have the answer appeared to function as a reset button, and I began puzzling out a good path.

“I think I’ve got it,” I announced after a minute or two of pondering and testing ideas.

 _Already?_ Lira asked, astonished. _How???_

Papyrus looked up from his own scrutiny of the puzzle. “Oh?”

I looped around to the other side, then began carefully tracing a path over, around, down, then back up. I hit the switch, the Os turned green, and the spikes retracted.

“Wow!!! You solved it!! And you did it all without my help.” Papyrus looked genuinely impressed. “Well done! I knew you loved puzzles as much as me!! Since you had so little trouble with this one, I’m sure you’ll love what I have planned next! It might even be too easy for you!! Let’s go!!!”

He led us eagerly around the puzzle and through the spikes, though I slowed to talk to Sans, who had appeared from around a nearby tree. Papyrus was gone before he could notice.

“Hey, good job on solving that puzzle so quick. You didn’t even need my help! Which is great, because I love doing absolutely nothing,” the skeleton told us with a lazy grin.

I nodded and went to walk past him, then paused. “H-How do you… How do you just _appear_ places, and vanish so quickly? You shouldn’t have been able to get behind that tree without us seeing you.”

Sans shrugged. “No idea what you’re talking about, kid. Have fun with the other puzzles, the next one should be interesting.”

I hesitated, then nodded slowly and walked away. No use pushing it.

 _Something’s definitely up,_ Ebony grumbled as we walked. _He knows a_ lot _more than we do, and the fact that he doesn’t want to share it bothers me._

 _Well, we aren’t going to get anywhere by direct questioning, at least not yet,_ I reasoned. We were coming up on another wooden bridge.

Adva hummed thoughtfully. _I wonder if it’s some sort of teleportation magic. But if that’s the case, why hide it?_

 _Maybe it’s rare,_ Lira said suddenly, an uncommon seriousness in her voice. _Maybe it’s something people don’t understand. Maybe he’s a bit like us._

We all very abruptly understood what she was suggesting, and all the implications. I instantly felt bad for asking about it.

Across the bridge, the skeleton brothers were waiting again. Between us and them was a large grid of greyscale squares.

“Hey! It’s the human!!” Papyrus shouted gleefully. “You’re gonna love this puzzle! It was made by the great Dr. Alphys! You see these tiles?”

I nodded.

“Once I throw this switch,” he gestured to a large, boxy machine sitting next to him, “They will begin to change color! Each color has a different function!”

He then went into a long-winded spiel that I could barely keep track of. Red, impassable; pink, safe; green, a fight; yellow, electric; it was a lot to take in at once.

“How was that? Understand?” Papyrus finished.

“I… I think so? M-May I, um, ask for the instructions again if I get stuck in the middle?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Of course you can!”

I relaxed ever so slightly. “O-Oh! Oh, good.”

“One last thing before you start!! This puzzle… is entirely random!!!! When I pull this switch, it will make a puzzle that has never been seen before!!! Not even I will know the solution! Nyeh heh heh!! Get ready!”

He threw the switch, and immediately the tiles lit up and began to flash different colors.

I shifted my weight anxiously, preparing for anything. I could feel Ebony hovering, ready to take over in case we hit a green tile. I ran over the list of tiles and effects in my head again, just to make sure I was ready, still nervous Papyrus wouldn’t actually let me ask for help.

The tiles sped up in their flashing, getting faster and faster until suddenly –

Oh.

A pathway of pink tiles, straight across, bordered by red. The pink ones were safe. We were free to move across.

Papyrus stared at the puzzle for a minute, then just turned and walked away.

Adva snorted. _That was… anticlimactic._

 _But_ really _funny,_ Spark chuckled.

I felt a smile tugging at the corners of our mouth as I walked across the pink pathway.

“Hey, you know that spaghetti from earlier?” Sans asked without much preamble. “It wasn’t too bad for my brother. Since he started cooking lessons, he’s been improving a lot.”

I glanced back, slightly guilty. “Now I feel bad for not eating any of it… It was frozen solid, I couldn’t eat it without breaking a tooth.”

Sans shrugged. “Eh, it is what it is.”

“A-and, um.” The guilty feeling increased. “I… I-I am sorry for a-asking about the whole… moving around thing. It is none of my business and I will not ask again.”

Sans’ face went slack, ever so slightly, in surprise. Then his perma-grin grew a little more genuine. “Heh. Still don’t know what you’re talking about, kid, but if I did… I’d probably say thanks.”

I nodded, a little stiffly and awkwardly, and hurried on.

The next puzzle was not made by Papyrus, from what I could tell; it was another series of Xs that needed to be converted to Os, but this time situated on an incredibly slippery frozen lake. It took me a minute to work out, but I eventually managed to hit all the Xs without falling.

After that, we meandered somewhat. It was still a lovely day, even better now that we had had lunch, and I took the time to enjoy it.

Eventually, we reached a long wooden bridge.

 _I remember seeing this bridge on the map!_ I told the others excitedly. _This should be right outside Snowdin Town!_

 _Great, but we have company,_ Ebony hissed. _Look across_.

Sans and Papyrus were, of course, waiting for us on the other side. Papyrus looked incredibly excited.

“Human!” he called as soon as we were halfway across. “This is your final and most dangerous challenge!! Behold, the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror!”

As he spoke, we heard machinery whir to life. I saw flamethrowers, a cannon, a dog (?), and all manner of pointy, dangerous objects appear around the bridge. My grip on the rope handles tightened reflexively, and it felt like my feet were glued to the ground. I may have been shaking, I wasn’t sure.

“When I say the word, it will fully activate!!!” Papyrus continued. “Cannons will fire! Spikes will swing! Blades will slice! Each part will swing violently up and down! Only the tiniest chance of victory will remain!!!”

 _Tiger,_ Adva said, softly but urgently. _Do you need me to take over?_

I didn’t even respond. I couldn’t. I just pulled back.

*

Adva

*

I blinked as we staggered slightly; abdicating rather than a direct transfer was often messier. But I couldn’t blame Tiger at all. This gauntlet was absolutely terrifying.

“Are you ready?” Papyrus asked, oblivious to the messy switch. “Because I! Am! About! To do it!”

I took a deep breath and steadied my footing, ready to run for all I was worth. “Ready.”

There was a pause.

Sans, surprisingly, was the one to break it. “Well? What’s the holdup?”

“Holdup?? What holdup?? There is no holdup!!” Papyrus scoffed. “I’m… I’m about to activate it now!!!”

Another pause.

“That, uh, doesn’t look very activated,” Sans noted.

“Well!!! This challenge seems… maybe… Too easy to defeat the human with! Yeah! We can’t use this one!!! I am skeleton with standards, and my puzzles are very fair!! And my traps are expertly cooked! But this method is too direct! No class at all! Away it goes!!” Papyrus waved a hand dismissively.

Sure enough, the whirring sounds started again, and the flames and blades retreated.

Papyrus sighed in relief, then drew himself up again in righteous indignation. “What are you looking at!! This was another decisive victory for Papyrus!! Nyeh heh… heh.” He turned and hurried away.

Slowly, still not quite sure what just happened, I finished crossing the bridge. “… Hey, Sans.”

“Heya. Honestly, kid, I’m not sure what my brother’s gonna do now. If I were you, I’d make sure I understand blue attacks.” He paused, then looked at me a little more critically. “You sure looked determined out there. Ready to run.”

There was a weight to his words that I didn’t quite understand, so I just shrugged. “If I had to cross the gauntlet, then I wasn’t going to let it bring me down easily.”

Sans nodded. “You’re pretty brave for a baby bones.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned. “How dare you, I’m not a baby.”

“Whatever you say, kid. How about you head on into town? You’ve come a long way, might as well see the sights.”

I nodded and turned toward the cheery Christmas lights I could see winking along the path ahead of us. “See you around, Sans.”

No response. I glanced back; he was already gone.


	7. Respites and Bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A plan is made and abandoned. Progress is hindered. Ebony makes a mistake.

A large sign blinked ‘Welcome to Snowdin’ in blue and red and green, the Christmas lights reflecting off the snow around it. It seemed very cheery.

Walking into the town itself was nerve-wracking; there were as many monsters in this one town as in the whole Ruins, and certainly more than we had ever seen in one place. Toriel’s hesitance to tell us about the rest of the Underground sat uncomfortably in my throat as I did my best to pretend I belonged. That was, surprisingly, not difficult – the monsters barely acknowledged us, and those that did just said hello or asked how we were enjoying our visit to Snowdin.

_Papyrus did not seem to know what were at first, either,_ Tiger remembered. _He had to ask Sans. I suppose it would make sense that the monsters currently alive would have no recollection of what humans are actually like._

_Which begs the question of why Sans knew what a human looked like,_ Ebony said darkly.

None of us knew how to respond to that.

I noticed a shop right at the edge of town and decided to go inside. We might find something useful, after all. As I opened the door, I was met with a wave of warmth; it had to be magic, since it forced the chill out of me almost instantly.

“Hiya!” the shopkeeper greeted us. It was another bunny monster, purple this time, and she seemed relaxed and friendly. “Been awhile since there’s been a fresh face around here. Where are you visiting from? The capital?”

I nodded, praying she wouldn’t ask me questions about it. “Yeah, just wanted to try something different for a bit. You know how it is.”

“Oh, absolutely! I’d go traveling if I had time, but someone has to watch the shop.” She gestured to the display case in front of her. “Want to buy anything?”

I looked in the case. Cinnamon buns – labelled ‘Cinnamon Bunnies’ and shaped like rabbits, how cute – and those double popsicle things, as well as a few non-food items, like a bandana. _What do you guys think?_

_I do not think we need anything at the moment, and we should save our money in case we need it later,_ Tiger reasoned.

I looked back at the shopkeeper. “Um, I don’t think I need anything right now, but if I do, I’ll come straight here!”

She chuckled. “Great! Feel free to look around as much as you like, I know you capital folk aren’t used to such cold weather.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully, wandering away from the counter a little to browse. One whole corner of the store functioned like a mini supermarket, and the knickknacks in the rest of the building were very interesting. I had to talk Lira down from wanting a little snowglobe.

“Are you visiting long?” the shopkeeper asked after I’d browsed for a few minutes.

I shook my head. “No, I’ll probably only be in the area for a day or so.”

“If you need a place to stay, you can always head to the inn! It’s right next door, my sister runs it,” the shopkeeper offered. “Grillby’s is the best place to go for food, and if you need something to do, you can always head to the library or watch those wacky skeletons do their thing!”

“Thank you very much, I think a library visit would be wonderful.” I waved and left the shop, feeling the chill much more acutely now that we hadn’t been cold for a few minutes.

Tiger was very, _very_ excited by the prospect of a library. _What sorts of books do you think they have? Do you think they have anything on magic? Oh, what about humans? Or maybe they have books on the rest of the Underground!_

Ebony snorted. _Little town like this? I wouldn’t get your hopes up, Ty._

I looked around for the library, nodding absently to a few cheerful monsters. _I’m more interested by how she described Sans and Papyrus, honestly._

_I mean they’ve been pretty entertaining,_ Spark pointed out. _Except for the whole ‘trying to capture us’ thing, of course. I think if you didn’t have a personal stake in it, it would be pretty funny to watch._

We wandered past the inn, a Christmas tree, some igloos, and some houses. Snowdin was idyllic, and if it weren’t for the cold, I would have loved to spend more time here. A sign caught my eye – ‘Grillby’s,’ it read, and the building looked warm and welcoming.

_Oh, that’s the place the shopkeeper said had good food!_ Spark remembered. _It must be a restaurant of some sort. I wonder what they serve._

I glanced in through the window. There were several tables and what looked like a bar, and the barkeep – a fire elemental of some sort? – was expertly pouring drinks and serving food. Burgers and fries, mostly, from what I could see.

“You aren’t gonna get full from looking,” said a nearby voice.

I suppressed a yelp and turned. It was a bear monster, leaning back against the wall of the building. He was wearing a rather spiffy red jacket. “O-Oh, um, I suppose not.”

The bear let out an amused chuff. “You gonna go inside?”

“Oh, no, I was just curious. Um… You wouldn’t happen to know where the library is, would you?”

One set of instructions later, we were walking into the wonderfully warm library. I hummed happily as I crossed the room to the bookshelves.

_The sign is misspelled,_ Tiger grumbled. _What self-respecting library spells their sign ‘Librarby’?_

_Maybe it was a mistake and they can’t fix it?_ Lira suggested.

_Still._

I grabbed a book at random off of the shelf and sat down in a corner with it. _Okay. We can read some, but we need to plan first._

_Plan?_ Ebony repeated. _Plan what?_

_Logistics. How long do we have until Mom gets back? How long until dark?_ I turned a page idly. There were a few monsters in here, after all, talking quietly amongst themselves. It was better to appear busy.

_When we left the Ruins, we assumed we had approximately two days,_ Tiger mused. _It is now late afternoon on the first day. I would estimate that, if finding the crystal is quick, we have time to get to Waterfall and then come back to the inn before we need to sleep. Then we can hurry back to the Ruins with plenty of time; it only took us so long this time because we were uncertain and Papyrus was intent on impeding our progress._

_What if the crystal is rare, or takes a while to find?_ Ebony asked.

Tiger hummed thoughtfully. _Then we camp out in Waterfall, I suppose._

_Did your book say where to find the crystals once we were in Waterfall?_ I asked, turning another page.

_I believe it said they form in the ‘wishing room cave,’ which is supposed to have a lot of crystals on the ceiling._

I nodded thoughtfully, put our book back on the shelf, and went to the front desk. “Excuse me?”

The librarian turned to me. “Yes?”

“Do you have any maps of Waterfall, by any chance?”

“Why yes, we do! One moment.” The librarian led me to one of the other bookshelves, rifled around for a moment, then handed me a book. “Here, it’s an atlas of the Underground! Be careful, that’s one of our more expensive books!”

I grinned. “Thank you very much, I’ll be careful!”

We carefully set the book on the floor and began paging through it. There was, unsurprisingly, not much about the Ruins: it used to be the capital, before the population grew too large and it was abandoned in favor of ‘New Home,’ wherever that was. After that, the door was locked and no one had gone in or come out for decades.

The question of how old Toriel really was crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. It didn’t matter, really.

I flipped to the section on Waterfall. The pictures were beautiful, with massive waterfalls and flowers and crystals littered everywhere, but they were, like the rest of the atlas, black and white.

_I’m so excited,_ Lira whispered.

_Me too,_ Spark admitted. _This place looks amazing._

I continued looking until I spotted the correct room. _There. The Cave of Monsters’ Hopes._

The story, as it turned out, was rather sad. The crystals on the ceiling of the cave supposedly looked like stars, and monsters would go there to make wishes. They were still hoping that, one day, they would see the real stars.

_Oh._ Lira sounded… small. Lost. _That’s… that’s awful. Those poor monsters. They’ve… never seen the real stars._

_Not our problem._ Ebony’s voice had taken on the bite of ‘I care and I don’t want to.’ _We have a job to do and a home to get back to. Tiger, how far?_

_N-Not far, it’s on the close side of Waterfall,_ Tiger told her. She sounded shaky too.

Spark sighed. _Maybe we should make a wish too. I hope they see the stars someday._

I carefully closed the book again and handed it back to the librarian. “Thank you, have a nice day.”

“You too!” she called after us as we left.

We were quiet as we walked, mulling over the new information in our own ways. There were a lot of new questions, questions that we didn’t have the means to answer yet, but we set those aside for the time being. One problem at a time.

Snowdin was a small town. We cleared the last buildings after only a few more minutes of walking. Unfortunately, that’s also when the area began to get foggy.

_I don’t like this,_ Ebony whispered.

_Neither do I,_ Tiger agreed. _It is incredibly easy to get lost in fog._

I reached out a hand and brushed my fingertips along the trees lining the path, letting them anchor me. _These seem to be planted fairly straight. If we follow them we should be alright._

The fog grew thicker as we advanced, so much so that after a few meters I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I was about ready to turn around and try again later when I saw a blurry shape ahead of me.

“H-Hello?” I called out, edging a little closer to the pine needles still prickling at my fingers.

“Human,” came a voice. Papyrus. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. “Allow me to tell you about some complex feelings.”

_If he says he has a crush on someone I’m going to puke,_ Ebony warned me in a harsh whisper.

_Noted._

“Feelings like… the joy of finding another pasta lover. The admiration for another’s puzzle-solving skills. The desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool. These feelings…” Papyrus paused dramatically. “They must be what you are feeling right now!!!”

Ebony groaned. _What._

“I can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel that way,” Papyrus continued. “After all, I am very great. I don’t ever wonder what having lots of friends is like! I pity you… lonely human…”

Spark snorted. _Lonely? As if._

_Does he mean that he doesn’t wonder because he has a lot of friends or because he doesn’t have a lot of friends?_ Lira asked, her voice full of concern.

Papyrus, of course, did not hear the question. “Worry not!!! You shall be lonely no longer! I, the great Papyrus, will be your…” He paused. The moment stretched like taffy, and I felt almost suspended in this limbo of fog. “… No. No, this is all wrong. I can’t be your friend! You are a human, I must capture you!!”

“Must you?” I tried, discreetly shuffling my feet in the snow to get a better foothold. If we could sprint past him, maybe we could make it to Waterfall without needing to fight… “Is capturing me really that important?”

“Yes!! That is the only way to fulfill my lifelong dream!!! Powerful, popular, prestigious! That’s Papyrus!! The newest member of the Royal Guard!!!”

The world flickered to black and white, and we were pulled into an encounter.

Ebony took control almost instantly.

*

Ebony

*

If Papyrus noticed our SOUL change color, he didn’t comment. Instead, he patiently waited for us to go first.

I dropped into my fighting stance, fingers itching for a weapon. Would Papyrus be as strong as the dogs? He certainly wouldn’t be thrown off as easily as they had been. _Tiger._

_I… I’m not sure,_ Tiger admitted, panic creeping into her voice. _I barely know anything about skeletons!_

_That’s alright,_ Adva assured her, _we’ll figure it out. Ebony, focus on dodging._

I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Well, I am sorry human, but we must!” Papyrus held out a hand, and a row of _bones_ shot up out of the ground toward me. Luckily, they were tiny and slow, so I managed to sidestep them quite easily. His next two attacks were the same.

_This is… a lot easier than I thought it would be,_ Spark said slowly. Suspiciously.

_I was just thinking the same thing,_ I agreed. “Papyrus, do we really have to fight? I’d rather just get past you!”

The skeleton didn’t look happy about it, but he nodded. “I am afraid this is the only way, human. Now, prepare yourself for my fabled blue attack!”

Another round of bones. This time there were more, a lot more, in varying shapes and sizes. All of them were glowing blue.

My instincts screaming at me to dodge, I kept still, allowing the attacks to pass harmlessly through me.

Then our SOUL turned dark blue, and I slammed into the ground.

I heard the others start clamoring over each other, asking if I was okay, what had happened, what was this???

Another bone, tiny and easy to dodge, slammed into me. I winced and forced myself onto my hands and knees, shaking slightly with the strain.

“You’re blue now!” Papyrus declared triumphantly. “That’s my attack.”

‘ _Make sure you know about blue attacks,’ he said,_ I groaned. _I’m going to murder that stupid skeleton._

It was a measure of how concerned Adva was that she didn’t even comment. _Tiger? Have you read about this?_

_Um… Sort of? From what I’ve read, there is a class of monsters called ‘Boss Monsters’ that can directly influence the SOUL,_ Tiger told us. _That can range from freezing the SOUL in place to… something like this, in theory. It appears he has increased gravity on us._

I forced myself up onto my feet, gasping for air and blinking away spots. This was _awful._

Another round of bones. These seemed to be normal, and at least there weren’t that many of them. One clipped my shoulder, which hurt, but I managed to keep my feet and stagger away from the others.

“Nyeh heh heh! Give up, human! Don’t make me use my special attack!” Papyrus warned.

_This isn’t his special attack???_ I wheezed. _What_ else _can he do??_

_Do you need to tap out?_ Adva asked.

_No. I’m okay. I can do this._ My hands were shaking. I ignored them.

Papyrus, meanwhile, seemed to be daydreaming. “Papyrus… head of the Royal Guard! Unparalleled spaghettore!”

“Gotta catch me first, buddy,” I gasped, stumbling out of the way of another attack.

“I shall! And when I do, Undyne will be really proud of me!” He sent another wave of bones my way. “The king shall carve a hedge in the shape of my smile!!”

It felt like the mountain had collapsed on top of my shoulders, forcing me down, making me slow and clumsy. But I still managed to glare at the skeleton, squaring my shoulders as much as I could. I had always been good at defiance.

More bones. More dodging. I got hit again.

My hands were definitely shaking now; I couldn’t keep this up forever. But hopefully, neither could he. It had to be costing him a lot of energy to keep something like this going.

_You can do this,_ Lira whispered to me. _I know you can, keep going. Don’t give up._

She believed in me. Somehow, that knocked a few pounds off the load, and I felt just a little rejuvenated. I could do this. _We_ could do this. “We don’t need to fight, Papyrus!”

He wouldn’t look me in the eyes anymore. “I’ll have lots of admirers!”

I dodged around another wave of attacks. I was starting to get the hang of it!

“But…” He hesitated. “Will… anyone like me as sincerely as you do?”

The next attacks he sent my way fluctuated in size. I got hit once more, but managed to avoid the rest.

“Someone like you is really rare…” Papyrus admitted quietly, then shook his head. “Urgh! No, who cares! Give up, or face my special attack!”

When I twisted to avoid the next attack, my foot slid on a patch of ice and I went down. Forcing myself back up was even harder the second time, and I only barely managed it. My legs were shaking now, too.

“I’m… going to use it very soon! This is your last chance to surrender!!” he warned me, trying and failing to look intimidating.

“I’m not afraid of you!” I spat. “Bring it on!”

Papyrus hesitated, then nodded. “Very well. Behold, my special attack!!!”

There was a pause. Papyrus looked around, as confused as I felt. Then he noticed, off to one side, a small dog chewing on a bone. “What the heck!!! That’s my special attack! Hey, you stupid dog, do you hear me??? Stop munching on that bone!!”

The dog glanced up at him, then grabbed the bone and ran away.

“Hey!!! What are you doing!!!” Papyrus demanded. “Come back here with my special attack!!!”

The dog did not appear to hear him. It disappeared into the surrounding forest.

Papyrus hesitated, then sighed. “Oh well. I’ll just use a really cool regular attack.”

I braced myself.

There were a _lot_ of bones this time, and some of them actually spelled words.

_Does that say… ‘Cool Dude’?..._ Adva asked incredulously.

_Look!_ Lira gasped. _A bone on a skateboard!_

Then, the piece de resistance – a massive sea of bones, something I couldn’t hope to go around. I had no options. I jumped.

It was… odd. For a moment, it felt almost like I was hovering over the bones, like I wasn’t falling. Like I could just keep going up and up forever.

And then it was over, and I was swerving out of the way of a comically huge bone, and I hit the ground funny and felt my ankle roll. I forced myself back up, trying desperately to get air into my lungs.

Papyrus was out of breath, too. “Well!! It’s… clear you can’t… defeat me!! I can see you shaking in your boots!!”

I was, but not in fear. I could barely stand anymore.

“Therefore I, the great Papyrus, elect to grant you pity!”

_Uh oh._

“… Pity?” I asked, the word grating out between my teeth. I _hated_ that word, how _dare_ he? “Is that what this is? _Pity?_ ”

Papyrus looked taken aback. “… Human?...”

“Well I don’t want your _pity,_ or your _friendship,_ or anything else!” I spat, channeling my fear and pain into something more useful. How _dare he??_ “Just get out of my way!”

_EBBY!_ Lira shrieked.

_Ebony, you need to calm down,_ Adva told me.

_That was totally uncalled for!_ Spark hissed.

_Ebony, you didn’t need to say that!!_ Tiger sounded more stressed than I felt.

I ignored them. I just needed to protect us, that’s all I needed to do here. Didn’t matter how. I stood my ground, glaring at this stupid skeleton who was in our way, _daring_ to _mock_ us.

Papyrus gave me a look like I’d slapped him across the face. “… O-Oh… I…”

“Well?” I hissed.

“I… Human, you… what happened? You were… so nice earlier.”

“You weren’t in our _way_ earlier,” I ground out, hands clenching into fists. “And I’d advise you to _move._ ”

He hesitated. Then, quietly, “No.”

“ _Move!”_

“No! No, not until you tell me what happened! You… You’re nicer than this, I know it! You were nice to me before, you aren’t a bad person!” Papyrus looked genuinely upset. I forced myself not to care. “You don’t have to be mean!”

I was still shaking, but now it was from anger as well as strain. I didn’t need to be pitied. _None_ of us needed to be pitied. And I was going to get that through his thick skull, regardless of what the others were shouting. “Fine. Have it your way.”

I don’t know what I planned to do. Something drastic, probably, and more likely than not I would have hurt Papyrus. But as I dashed forward, I felt all four of the others wrestle control away from me.

*

???

*

Pain. Blinding, incoherent, all-consuming _pain._ Our head felt like it was about to split open. We weren’t… this wasn’t normal. We had done something unusual and bad and we didn’t like it. But our head hurt too much to try and figure out what had happened and how to fix it.

One of us wasn’t in control, didn’t _want_ to be in control anymore. We could sense it. We reached out, but were turned away. _Focus on yourselves,_ the whisper came, through tears.

We didn’t know how.

One of us, more aware than we were, pushed the others down, gently, gently, careful not to aggravate the headache. They went without fuss. Yes, this was right, this was better. This was not the jumble of identity and pain, this was muted and calm.

I opened our eyes.

*

Adva

*

Coming to was… odd. Fuzzy and syrupy. The headache was a beast, and I felt a cold lump of guilt and shame in the back of my mind where Ebony was curled, refusing to talk. Now that we were settled again, I was able to parse out what had happened.

Ebony had done the only thing she knew how to do – stand up to people who she thought were trying to put us down and fight to protect us. Unfortunately, she had gone too far, and she had fought us as we took control. Her desperate clawing to stay in the driver’s seat had caused us an inordinate amount of pain. We had fallen, I was pretty sure we had screamed, and then I didn’t remember anything else. I had no idea how long we had been in that fuzzy in-between state of pain and confusion. This… This had never happened before. It had never needed to happen.

The light hurt, I registered, squinting at the ceiling. We… weren’t in a place I recognized. That was enough to get me to try and sit up.

“Oh!” There was a hand on our shoulder, gently pushing me back down. “No, no, do not try to get up yet. You were not doing well at all!”

“Mmph.” I rubbed our forehead and groaned. “Wh’ time z’it?”

“… What?”

I took a second to push away the headache a bit more. It was starting to recede now that we were awake and not fighting for control anymore, but it still made thinking difficult. “Gah, my head. What time is it?”

“Oh!! It is almost nighttime!”

Our eyes snapped open. “What??”

“You have been asleep for a few hours,” said the person next to us, who I belatedly realized was Papyrus. “It was… alarming, to say the least! You were not acting like yourself.”

I huffed out a small laugh. “I guess not. Are… are you okay?”

“Of course I am!! You did not harm me at all, human!!” he assured me with a big grin.

Ebony uncurled ever so slightly. Good.

“Are _you_ alright?” he asked, his grin shifting to a look of concern.

I hesitated. “I… will be. Thank you, Papyrus, y-you… didn’t have to help me. After what I said.”

He shook his head vehemently. “Nonsense! The great Papyrus may have… used poor phrasing. I am always willing to admit to a mistake! And I am always willing to make up for it!! I am just glad you are back to being nice.”

“Me too,” I hummed, glancing around the room. “Um, Papyrus… where are we?”

“We are in my house!!”

My eyes widened. “Oh! Papyrus, you didn’t have to –”

He waved off my protests. “It was the least I could do! I inconvenienced you, after all. You wanted to progress, and I wouldn’t let you.”

“Still…” I sat up, carefully. I was on what appeared to be Papyrus’ sofa.

Papyrus hovered anxiously. “Is sitting up alright? Does your head still hurt? Do you need anything? I have already administered some healing magic, though I have not mastered it just yet, but I believe you may still be hurt from our glorious battle!”

I let out a small laugh again. “Um… water, maybe? I’m really thirsty.”

“Of course, human!! One moment!!” Papyrus dashed into what I assumed was the kitchen, and I heard cupboards being rummaged through.

_Is everybody okay?_ I asked quietly.

_Everyone except Eb,_ Spark reported.

I reached out to Ebony as gently and carefully as I could, and was shoved harshly away. She must have felt really bad about what happened.

Papyrus came back with a glass of water, which I took gratefully and began drinking. “Is there anything else?”

I paused. “… Yes, actually.”

“What is it?”

“Papyrus, I’m sorry.”

That seemed to take him off-guard. “What?”

“I’m sorry for how I acted.” I stared down at the water. “I’m sorry I was mean. I’m sorry I didn’t let you spare me.”

Papyrus put a hand on my shoulder and said, in the most serious tone I had ever heard him use, “You are forgiven, human.”

I heard Ebony sob.

I gave him a smile, blinking away my own tears. “Thanks, Papyrus.”

“It is no trouble at all, human! Now, as my own apology, you are welcome to stay here for the night!” He leaned closer and stage-whispered, “I hear the inn is very good, but quite expensive!”

“Only if this means we’re friends,” I blurted.

He looked taken aback, then lit up like a kid on Christmas morning has he processed what I’d said. “Wowie!!!! I’m friends with a human!!! We can have a sleepover, I’ve never had one of those before!!!!”

“Neither have I,” I admitted, my smile widening. He was just so sweet.

“Off to the library, then!! I must find a book on sleepovers! My brother is in his room, yell for him if you need anything!!!” Papyrus dashed out the door, yelling up at a door on the second floor that he was leaving.

The door closed. For a few seconds, I sat there in the silence. It was calm and peaceful, which was nice after everything that just happened.

“Heya.”

I yelped and grabbed the back of the couch to keep from falling over.

Sans was standing right next to the couch, relaxed as ever on first glance, but with an odd tension in his face the more I looked. “’Sup, kid?”

I took a deep breath and sat up straight again. “Hi, Sans.”

“You gave us a scare, there. Pretty _bone-chilling_ seeing you passed out,” he said with a wink.

“Good one.”

“Can’t be that good, you’re not laughing.”

I shrugged. “My head hurts, I’m not in a laughing mood.” The lingering sense of Ebony’s guilt and anger wasn’t helping either.

Sans paused, then turned and walked into the kitchen. He was gone for about thirty seconds, then walked back out with two bags of takeout labelled ‘Grillby’s.’ “You hungry?”

“Starving.”

He handed me one of the bags. “Burger and fries okay?”

Burger and fries sounded _amazing._ I tore open the bag and started eating. Still hot. I managed to mumble a ‘thanks’ around a mouthful of burger.

“No prob, kid. Least I can do.”

I paused and raised an eyebrow.

Sans’ eyes went dark as he leaned forward. “Y o u ‘ v e g o t s o m e e x p l a i n i n g t o d o.”


	8. Questions and Answers

I almost choked on my food. Despite being a walking, talking skeleton, Sans had never looked _scary_ before. Now he looked more than capable – and more than willing – to hurt us.

Sans sat back, his eyes returning to normal. “Let’s start with the easy stuff, huh?”

“O-Okay,” I agreed carefully. Ebony was still out of commission, and I didn’t want to get into a serious confrontation without her.

“Why’d you go after Papyrus?”

I hesitated. “Well… he said he was going to grant us pity. We didn’t… I don’t need to be pitied. And I was already feeling rotten because of that blue magic – thanks for nothing, by the way – and getting hit a lot, so… I guess I just snapped.”

“You did it again.”

“Did what?”

“Said ‘we.’”

I froze. Had I? I had, I realized with growing horror. And he’d said ‘again,’ which meant I must have slipped up earlier, and –

“Relax, kid, I’m still not sure exactly what that means.” Sans’ eyes went dark again for a moment. “But you’d better tell me quickly.”

“I…” I bit my lip, thinking. “… Give me a minute. I can’t just… This is important. And difficult. I need to think.”

Sans didn’t look happy about it, but he opened his own bag of Grillby’s food and started eating.

 _Guys?_ I asked softly.

 _Tell him,_ Lira said immediately.

Spark hesitated. _… We did try to hurt his brother. He deserves some answers, at least._

 _I think we should tell him,_ Tiger added.

That left Ebony.

We waited for a long, agonizing moment.

Then, in the faintest whisper: _Yes._

I let out a breath. “Okay. Okay, this is going to sound… weird.”

“I expected weird,” Sans told me, munching on a fry.

That was a good start. “… Do you remember how I introduced myself?”

“… Five, right?”

“Yeah.” Another breath. I could do this. “Five. Five people.”

A pause.

Sans sat up straight, looking at me more seriously. “Five people? What do you mean?”

“I mean there are five people in our body. We switch who’s in control.”

“That’s why your SOUL changes colors,” he realized. “It switches when you do.”

I nodded.

“I’m assuming you all have names?”

I nodded again. “My name’s Adva. I was usually the one talking to you back in the Ruins.”

Sans’ smile became a bit more genuine for a moment. “Heh. That’s why you only laugh at my jokes some of the time, huh? You the only one who likes puns?”

I shook my head. “No, Lira likes them too. She’s just not good at coming up with them.”

“Have I met Lira?”

“Um…” I thought back. “… Yes. Back when Papyrus first saw us, she was in charge. Actually, I think the only one you haven’t met yet is Spark. She hasn’t taken control very often while we’ve been out here.”

 _May I?_ Spark asked.

I handed control over immediately.

*

Spark

*

I gave Sans a casual, two-fingered salute. “Hey. Nice to meet you.”

Sans nodded. “You’d be Spark, then?”

“Yep.” I turned my attention back to the food. “Give me a minute before socializing, though, I’m _really_ hungry.”

Now that he’d gotten the most pressing questions answered, Sans seemed content to let us set the pace of the conversation. He shrugged and kept eating his own food.

We ate in silence for the most part. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sans take out a bottle of ketchup. Rather than pouring it on his fries or his burger, like he should have, he just started _drinking it._

We all watched in a mixture of fascination and horror.

_… I want to try that._

I shuddered. _Try it and I disown you, Ly._

Sans, of course, noticed me watching. “What, never seen a guy drink before?”

“Drink drinks? Yes. Drink ketchup? Absolutely not.”

“It’s pretty good, you should try it sometime.”

I made a fake-gagging noise. “No thanks.”

“Ah, c’mon! It’s not so bad.”

Lira nudged at me.

“Ly, let me eat in peace,” I groaned, then froze.

Sans raised a brow ridge. “… Ly meaning Lira, I assume?”

“… Yeah.”

“What’s she want?”

I sighed. “She wants to drink ketchup.”

He chuckled. “She’s got great taste.”

_Heck yeah I do._

“This is the same person who willingly eats snail pie, I gave up on her taste buds long ago,” I told him sadly.

_Rude!_

“Heh. I know the feeling. But talk of ketchup aside… I have some more questions for you.”

I nodded, setting down the empty takeout bag. “I figured you would.”

Sans set his bag aside as well. “I gotta ask: are you planning to hurt my brother, or anyone else down here?”

“No.” My answer was immediate and firm. “We’ll be more careful from now on. It isn’t going to happen again.”

He nodded, then asked “Why are you really going to Waterfall?”

“We’re going to get something called a SOUL crystal.” I grabbed our bag – which Papyrus had thoughtfully left on the floor next to the sofa – and pulled out the minerals book, then opened it to the bookmarked page and held it out to him.

Sans cautiously took the book and skimmed the entry. “And you want this stuff why?”

“To make life easier for our mom,” I admitted. “She has a hard time telling us apart. If we have a SOUL crystal, it’ll be a lot more obvious who’s in charge.”

“Makes sense. So, she know you’re out here?”

I stared down at the floor, guilt making eye contact difficult. “No.”

“No?”

“She’s away on a trip. We have to get the crystal and be home in about a day, to make sure we’re back before she is.” I took a deep breath. “Honestly, we’re… not supposed to be out here. We’re supposed to stay in the Ruins. We just wanted to do something nice for her.”

Sans hummed thoughtfully. “So that’s why you freaked out when Paps told you how long you’d been out.”

I nodded. “Our lowest estimate was that we would get to Waterfall today. Our most generous was that we could reach Waterfall, grab the crystal, and get back to the inn to spend the night.”

“You’ve really thought this out, haven’t you?”

“We had to. Can’t do something like this halfway, you know?”

He shrugged. “Still, it’s impressive that you got this far this fast, since you’ve never been outside the Ruins before.”

“That would be thanks to Tiger,” I admitted. “She’s _amazing_ at puzzles, and she’s the one who figured out how to get past the dogs! We would have been stuck for _ages_ if she wasn’t here.”

Tiger squeaked in embarrassment.

“Oh, and… Sans?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Don’t... don’t tell anyone what we are, alright?” I made eye contact with him, trying to impress upon him how important this was. “Even Papyrus. Please. It needs to be our choice.”

Sans hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.”

There was silence for a few moments. Then the front door slammed open, and Papyrus ran inside, waving a piece of paper.

“The great Papyrus has returned!!!” he shouted, kicking the door closed behind him.

I winced; the headache had mostly gone away, but the sudden loud noise had aggravated it.

“Oh!! Does your head still hurt, human?” Papyrus asked, instantly dropping in volume. “My apologies.”

I waved his apology away. “Nah, it’s fine, the headache’s mostly gone. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Well… no. But I have the next best thing!!! The librarian was kind enough to write a list of typical sleepover things for us to try!! That is what took me so long, I had to wait for her to finish.” He handed me the sheet of paper.

I took it and glanced over the rows of neat handwriting. “Hm… Humans do a lot of these things too, from what I’ve heard. We could try to stick to ones that we’re both familiar with?”

“An excellent idea!!! Where should we start?”

 _Ooh, ooh!! Pillow fort!!!_ Lira suggested enthusiastically.

I smiled. “How about we start with building a fort? That way we can do the rest of the sleepover things inside it!”

Papyrus did the toe-bounce thing again. “You are _full_ of excellent ideas, my new friend!!! How do we build a fort??”

“Um… we’ll need blankets and chairs, I think? And maybe some pillows. We can use the couch as part of the structure,” I suggested.

“I shall get the blankets and pillows, then!” Papyrus ran upstairs, and I heard him rummage around in closets. He ran back into the living room with a veritable mountain of blankets and pillows in his arms. “Will this be enough??”

“That should be plenty, yeah!” I assured him, dragging two chairs into the living room from the kitchen. “Here, we need to drape them like this…”

Papyrus was a bit overenthusiastic in his efforts to help, and at one point the whole thing collapsed, but we laughed it off and generally were having a good time. The skeleton was a fast learner! We even strung up some Christmas lights inside to give us light to see by and included the TV as part of our fort’s frame so we could watch a show or something.

That’s when I felt it. A soft, hesitant nudge from Ebony. I hesitated for a moment, then gave her control.

*

Ebony

*

Everything was too bright. Too much. I was still reeling from what had happened earlier – being forcibly removed from the driver’s seat _hurt,_ I had discovered, and it was incredibly disorienting. But I needed to do this.

Taking a deep breath, I set down the blanket I had been holding. “… Papyrus?”

“Yes, human?”

“I…” This shouldn’t be so hard. The words were heavy in my mouth, full of grief and shame and regret, so why was it so hard? “I’m… sorry.”

Papyrus frowned. “Sorry? For what?”

“For… For everything.” My vision blurred as I felt tears welling up. “I s-said really h-horrible things, and I’m sorry, a-and I was going to _h-hurt_ you, and I didn’t… I don’t… I’m _sorry,_ I’m so sorry, I…”

“Oh dear. Perhaps you should sit down?” Papyrus guided me to the floor and put a hand on my shoulder. “Human, I… already said I forgive you. You do not need to apologize again.”

“But I _hurt you!_ ” I hissed. Why didn’t he get it? “I’m supposed to be _kindness_ and _bravery_ and I wasn’t, I _wasn’t_ , I was so incredibly _stupid_ but I just wanted everyone to be _safe,_ a-and I just got so angry and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.”

Papyrus gave me a confused look. “I thought you were very brave! You were hurt, but you kept facing me anyway! And you were very angry and wanted to get past me, but you warned me to get out of the way before you did anything reckless. I think you must be a very kind person indeed to focus on keeping people safe when you are so upset.”

“Why are you so _nice??”_ Tears began streaming down my cheeks. “Why are you being so _nice_ to me??”

“Because I think you can always be a better person,” Papyrus said matter-of-factly. “You made a bad choice, and you’re sad about it, so now you can learn from it and not do it again!”

“I w-won’t,” I sobbed, wiping my tears away with our sleeve. “P-Promise. I won’t do anything like that again.”

“… Would you like a hug?”

I nodded.

Papyrus pulled me into a hug, and it was… weird. Really nice, but hugging a skeleton was weird. Nothing like hugging Toriel. But there was a pleasant hum in the air that I recognized as ambient magic, and he was just being so _kind,_ and I just started sobbing.

I don’t know how long it took me to calm down. But when I finally pulled back, sniffling, there was suddenly a hand gently ruffling our hair.

“If I didn’t believe you before, kid,” Sans said softly, his smile the kindest I’d ever seen it, “I do now.”


	9. Progress and Echoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new area is reached, and a goal is completed.

Ebony was fairly quiet the rest of the night. She told us that she needed some more quiet time to recover, and that she would apologize to _us_ later, when we were alone, then retreated into her little ball again. None of us had any problems with this whatsoever, and I happily took over sleepover duty. It was really nice to have a break and make a new friend.

Papyrus was even kind enough to make us breakfast in the morning! Even if it was… slightly questionable.

“What’s the sauce made out of?” I asked, poking it with my fork. The consistency was very odd for spaghetti sauce, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to sparkle like that.

“There’s tomatoes and peppers and salt and MTT-brand glitter!!” Papyrus listed proudly. “I like using glitter for breakfast spaghetti, a little sparkle in the mornings is good for you!!!”

_Lira please do not eat that,_ Adva all but begged.

I considered my plate. I considered the fact that monster food was very different from normal food. I considered the excited face of my new friend. I considered the fact that eating glitter probably wouldn’t kill me.

I took a bite.

My eyes widened. “That’s… not bad!”

“Really?????”

“Really!” I took another bite. The texture was… interesting, and the sauce could use some more seasoning, but the flavor was pretty okay! It was definitely edible, which was a relief. I didn’t want to make Papyrus sad. “The peppers were a nice touch, though maybe try dicing them a little finer next time? And don’t be afraid to add more spices.”

Papyrus nodded eagerly. “I will certainly keep that in mind!! Thank you for your honesty. I am so glad you like it!!!”

Sans was staring at me like I’d grown a second head. “… Snail pie and ketchup, huh?”

I winked and took another bite of spaghetti.

“… You’re something else, kid.”

~ ~ ~

“Bye, Papyrus! Bye Sans!” I waved to the two skeletons, walking backwards away from their house. “Thank you again for the spaghetti and the sleepover!”

“It was no trouble! Please do not forget to visit again sometime soon!” Papyrus called, waving back.

“I won’t!”

_I still can’t believe you agreed to take the leftovers with us,_ Ebony groaned.

_Papyrus offered!_ I reminded her, turning and making my way toward the edge of town. _And it really wasn’t that bad._

Spark snickered. _Did you see the look on Sans’ face?_

_I don’t think he really believed that you’d given up on Lira’s tatebuds,_ Adva agreed with a chuckle.

_I’m just impressed he remembered the things I said to prove it._

_Sans isn’t not so bad, not really! He’s still our friend, after all, so of course he’d remember something like that,_ I reasoned, waving to a monster on the edge of town. We were almost out of Snowdin now. _He just wasn’t acting nice before because he was scared for his brother. But that’s over now, and I think today is going to be a good day! We’re going to get that crystal and get home and surprise Mom and it’s going to be awesome!!_

Ebony sighed. _You and your optimism. I hope you’re right._

_Of course I’m right!_ The path through the woods was starting to get foggy again, so I trailed my fingertips along the tree branches like Adva had. I even started humming a happy walking song.

The fog thickened until we could barely see, right about where Tiger judged we had encountered Papyrus yesterday, then began to dissipate.

_He really chose the most dramatic possible place to meet us, didn’t he?_ Ebony snorted.

I nodded happily. _Papyrus is really cool!_

_But, um… speaking of Papyrus…_ Ebony took a deep breath. _Guys, I’m… I’m so sorry._

_You were just trying to protect us, like you always do,_ Adva sighed.

_No, I went too far. I should never have made you stop me._

I frowned and sat down on the side of the path so I could focus entirely on the conversation. _Ebby, you were upset. And maybe you didn’t make the best choices, but Papyrus forgives you, and nothing bad really happened._

_I hurt you._ Her voice was almost a whisper. _I tried to protect you and I ended up hurting you. I’m so sorry, I really messed up._

_We forgive you,_ Spark said firmly. _We forgave you as soon as we woke up._

Tiger hummed in agreement. _We love you, Ebony. As long as you regret any bad decisions you make and work to correct them, we will always forgive you._

Ebony started sniffling again. _You’re gonna make me cry again, quit it. I did enough of that last night._

_Can I keep walking? Is Serious Conversation Time over?_ I asked cautiously.

Adva laughed. _I think so, yes._

_Awesome!_ I hopped up and continued on my way.

Ahead of us, out of the last tendrils of fog, a cave entrance emerged. I could hear a distant roar echoing from inside it, and a few blue crystals shimmered on the walls and floor. It looked very pretty and very, very exciting.

_That must be the entrance to Waterfall,_ Tiger breathed. _We made it._

I kept walking, picking up the pace just slightly in excitement. We were _here._ It had been incredibly fun seeing Snowdin, but that had never been a goal, just a waypoint. This, though, was the place we had been aiming for since we left the Ruins. Gosh, it felt like days ago.

As I entered the cave mouth, the dull roar grew louder. I saw where it was coming from, now – there was a waterfall pouring down the side of the cave to my right, mingling with the sound of the river to my left, and from the sound of it there were other falls further along.

_Makes sense that they’d call this place ‘Waterfall,’_ Spark mused. _I wonder how much water is actually down here._

_… Waterfall is a stupid name._

_Ebony,_ Adva groaned.

_No, I’m serious! It’s too on-the-nose to be a good name!_ Ebony huffed.

I grinned, letting the other four bicker good-naturedly as I continued on. The river took a sharp left turn, and I was sad to see it go, but the path continued on, letting out into a larger cavern where I was met with a familiar face.

“Sans!” I chirped, running over to the guard station. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a post in the forest?”

He chuckled. “Haven’t you seen a guy with two jobs before? I have a station here, too. How’re you liking Waterfall so far?”

“It’s so _pretty!_ I love it here!!” I gushed.

“… You’re Lira, right?”

I nodded happily.

“Nice. You really made Paps’ day, liking his spaghetti.” Sans rested his chin in his palm. “What did you really think of it?”

“It was…” I paused, searching for words. “… Edible? Like the texture was weird and I don’t think he knows which spices to use, but it didn’t taste _bad_ , just kind of… interesting.”

“You wanna give him some pointers next time you come over?”

I gasped, bouncing in excitement. “ _YES!!!_ That sounds like so much fun!!!”

Sans leaned back in his chair. “Cool. See you around sometime, then. I’m gonna take a nap.”

“Okay, sleep well! Bye Sans!” I wandered over to the corner of the room, where a large blue flower was letting off a gentle glow.

A red fish monster was standing next to the flower, regarding it with a curious expression on his face. He glanced up as I got closer. “Oh! Hey, check this out.” He pointed to the flower. “This is an echo flower. It repeats the last thing it heard over and over. Neat, huh?”

“Really neat!” I hadn’t really registered how tall the flower was before. It came up to our chest, and the soft glow was pulsing slightly. It was beautiful. A soft whisper caught my attention, and I leaned in to listen.

_“… Really neat!”_ it whispered, a perfect copy of my voice.

“Whoa,” I breathed.

_“Whoa.”_

I turned back to the fish monster. “Are these all over Waterfall?”

“Yeah, they’re really common. If you don’t talk around them, you might hear some really interesting stuff!”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind!” I skipped away, eager to keep going.

Suddenly, a little yellow blur shot past me, then turned around. It was a little dinosaur monster with no arms. I vaguely remembered seeing them while walking through Snowdin.

“Hey!” they called, grinning really wide. “You’re a kid, right? I can tell ‘cause of the striped sweater. Did you sneak out to see her too?”

I frowned, tilting our head to one side. “’Her’?”

“ _Undyne!_ The coolest monster _ever!_ ”

_Undyne. Didn’t Papyrus mention an Undyne?_ Spark asked thoughtfully.

“Oh! Um… well, I hadn’t planned on seeing her, but why not?” I gave them a grin of my own.

They wriggled in excitement. “This is gonna be _great!_ See you up ahead, then!” And they dashed away again.

I followed a little more slowly. A large waterfall flowed across the path, and flotsam was being pushed along, creating dangerous obstacles. I thought for a second, then took our shoes and socks off and rolled up our pants.

_Good idea,_ Tiger told me. _It appears to be warmer here than in Snowdin, but still. You can never be too careful._

I picked my way very carefully across the water, avoiding the debris. We got to the other side with no issues. I scuffed our feet on the ground for a few seconds to dry them as best I could before putting our shoes and socks back on.

Waterfall was _beautiful._ As I walked, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the crystals and the rivulets of water dripping down the walls; the aesthetic was incredible.

_I think this is one of my new favorite places,_ I told the others quietly. _It’s so pretty._

_And quiet,_ Ebony agreed.

Spark hummed. _Eh, I liked Snowdin better._

_How can those be your favorite places when the Ruins exist?_ Adva asked, her tone light and teasing.

_I concur. The Ruins are the best so far,_ Tiger said matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, Ebony tensed. _Ly. Into that tall grass._

_What?_

_NOW!_

I knew better than to argue with that tone. I ducked into a convenient patch of tall kelp grass.

“H-Hi, Undyne!” came a familiar voice. Papyrus! What was he doing here? “I’m here to deliver my… my daily report.”

I snuck to the edge of the grass bed, ignoring the whispers of _be careful,_ and peeked out.

There was Papyrus, alright! He looked… upset. Worried, maybe? And he was talking to someone in a big, scary-looking suit of armor. That must be Undyne!

“Uh… Regarding the human I told you about yesterday…”

_He WHAT???_ Ebony shrieked. _Papyrus SOLD US OUT???_

_Eb, calm down, we need to listen!_ Adva hissed.

“Did you fight them?” The voice was low, echoing due to the helmet, and full of confident authority.

“Y-Yes! Of course I did! I fought them valiantly!” Papyrus tried for one of his ‘I am the great Papyrus’ smiles, but didn’t quite get there.

Undyne crossed her arms. “Did you _capture_ them?”

Papyrus practically wilted. “Oh… um… W-w-well… no. I tried very hard, Undyne! But in the end… I… failed.”

The suit of armor turned slowly toward Papyrus. Her voice was sharp now, almost a growl. “Fine then. I guess I’ll have to take their SOUL myself.”

“W-What?? You’re… going to take the human’s SOUL… yourself?” Papyrus took an impulsive step forward. “But Undyne! You don’t h-have to destroy them!! You see… Y-You see…” He flinched and backed away from a no doubt menacing glare.

Undyne held the silence for a few more seconds, then huffed and turned away. “Papyrus, obtaining that SOUL is the Royal Guard’s top priority. If you can’t handle that, maybe you shouldn’t be a part of it .”

“… I… I understand,” Papyrus said quietly, glancing down and away. “I’ll help you in any way I can.”

“Good! Now get back to your post, you need to be prepared if the human comes by again.”

Papyrus nodded, then hurried off without saying anything else.

Undyne sighed and turned toward another tunnel entrance.

Realizing there was probably nothing else to see, I shifted my weight back ever so slightly to begin edging away from the edge of the grass. The dry strands rustled.

Undyne whipped back around, taking a few heavy, menacing steps toward us. Her fingers flexed, and suddenly a _glowing green spear_ materialized in her hand; she hefted it like it weighed nothing and pointed it directly at our patch of cover.

I barely dared to breathe. The others were silent as well. We were all focused on the wickedly sharp point of that spear and praying she didn’t spot us.

For a few seconds, Undyne held her position, slowly scanning back and forth for the source of the noise. Eventually, she let the spear dissipate and walked away.

We didn’t dare move for at least another minute. Then I very, _very_ slowly and carefully crawled out of the grass, wincing at each rustle. Eventually we were clear, and I felt like I could breathe properly again.

“Yo!” The voice made me jump, but it was just the little dinosaur monster from earlier. They were practically dancing in place. “Did you see the way she was staring at you?”

I nodded, shuddering. “It was… really intense.”

“YEAH!!! I’m _so_ jealous!! What did you do to get her attention?”

“I… don’t know,” I said slowly. I hadn’t liked that talk about our SOUL. “I’ll let you know if I figure it out.”

The monster grinned. “Cool, thanks! Now c’mon, let’s go watch her beat up some bad guys!” They sprinted away, but their foot caught on a rock and they tripped.

“Are you okay?” I asked, but they were already getting back up.

“Yeah! Happens all the time, I’m fine!” they chirped, shaking like a dog getting rid of water. “Let’s go!” And then they were off again, without tripping this time.

_… What do you think they were talking about?_ Spark asked quietly.

_Undyne’s going to do her best to kill us._ Ebony’s tone was bleak. _And Papyrus just agreed to help her in any way he could._

I huffed, starting to walk. _Papyrus wouldn’t hurt us! He’s our friend now, remember? And Undyne’s really scary, I don’t blame him for being scared to speak up. He tried, and that’s really important! And she threatened to not let him into the Royal Guard!_

Ebony sighed. _I… I know. And I’m trying to be better about this, it’s just… He told her about us!!_

_Yesterday! Probably just after he first saw us, before we were friends!_ I pointed out.

_Setting that point aside for a second,_ why _are they trying to kill us?_ Spark demanded. _We haven’t done anything wrong! Why do they want our SOUL so badly?_

_I don’t think we’ll be able to come up with that answer on our own,_ Adva said gently. _Let’s just finish what we started. Everyone thinks the Ruins are sealed; if we can get back home without being caught, Undyne won’t think to look for us there._

I nodded and refocused. Right, we were on a mission. I noticed a sign on the wall, written in glowing runes. Those were new, but I was pretty sure they were a form of monster-speak. _Spark?_

She didn’t sound happy, but she translated. _‘When four Bridge Seeds align in the water, they will sprout.’_

_Bridge Seeds?_ I glanced around us. There were four large, tightly-closed plants sitting on the ground near the sign, presumably the seeds it was talking about. I poked one; it felt scratchy, like Velcro. Picking it up was easy – it wasn’t rooted in place or anything! – so I carried it over to the small river covering the path ahead of us. It floated happily to the other side.

_That’s… really deep,_ Adva noted with some trepidation. _It didn’t look that deep from further back._

_Good thing these seeds are here!_ I floated the next three across the river as well. The scratchy leaves hooked together, _exactly_ like Velcro, and as soon as all four of them were in place, the petals unfurled into a lovely, hopefully stable bridge.

I tentatively poked it with our foot. It held. _I’m gonna go for it._

_Be careful._ It didn’t really matter who said it, we were all thinking it.

I was, to my credit, smart about it; I stayed in the center of the bridge and moved slowly, testing each part before I committed to a step. It took a while, but we made it across with no problems.

_Well that was nerve-wracking,_ Ebony said dryly. _Hooray for magical seeds, I guess._

_Pretty_ and _functional!_ I chirped, moving on with a skip in my step.

The next room was much bigger, and there were four more Bridge Seeds sitting in a conspicuous pile on the floor. We were cut off from progress by another deceptively deep river, and there were also glowing mushrooms and more crystals scattered around. Out of curiosity, I wandered over to a mushroom and poked it.

It made a tiny squeak and stopped glowing.

All five of us were stunned into silence for a moment.

Eventually, Tiger hesitantly suggested, _Try… poking it again, perhaps that will fix it?_

I did. The mushroom squeaked again and turned back on.

_I… cannot believe that actually worked._

I began to giggle, poking the squeaky mushroom twice more in rapid succession.

_Oh_ hell _no, we are not doing this,_ Ebony hissed, taking control just long enough to stand up and take a step away from the mushroom.

_But Ebbyyyyyy,_ I whined. _I wanna poke iiiiittttt…_

_If I let you keep poking that thing we’d be here all day, now focus. We’ve got to deal with the Bridge Seeds._

Tiger sighed. _Lira, I think I see the correct placement for them so we can move forward. Let us complete the puzzle, we are almost there!_

With Tiger’s help, we placed the Bridge Seeds in the correct orientation and crossed to the doorway to the next area.

Suddenly, our phone began to ring. Only one person knew our number; was Mom calling to check on us?

My heart in my throat, I answered. “… Hello?”

“Hello!! This is Papyrus!!”

We all sighed in relief.

“Hi, Papyrus!” I greeted him. “Um… How did you get my number?”

He laughed that distinctive laugh of his. “Oh, it was quite easy!!! I simply dialed every number sequentially until I got yours!!”

I giggled. “How long did that take?”

“A while! But, ah… what are you wearing?... I’m asking for a friend.”

“What am I… wearing?”

“Yes!!” Papyrus sounded really nervous all of a sudden. “A friend of mine thought she saw you wearing a blue and green sweater. Is that correct?”

I frowned. “Papyrus, I didn’t bring clothes to change into, you know what I’m wearing.”

“A-Ah, so I do!! But, um, perhaps you should find a different sweater…? I… do not want to lie, but I also do not want to tell this friend what you are wearing…” he said quietly. Sadly, almost.

_Ly._ Spark nudged at me. _Can I?_

I nodded and gave her the reins.

*

Spark

*

I took a deep breath. “Papyrus… tell her whatever you think you need to. I’ll be okay, promise.”

Papyrus was quiet for a moment. Then he laughed. “Nyeh heh heh!! Of course you will, you were able to best the great Papyrus, after all! I have no doubt that you will be alright. Very well then, I shall tell my friend the truth!! Good luck on your journey!!!” He hung up.

_We should’ve told him to lie,_ Ebony huffed quietly.

_No, this was the right thing to do._ Tiger sounded far more certain than I felt. _He should not lie to a friend. And besides, I doubt lying would have done much good in this scenario anyway; it is likely that he was referring to Undyne, who will no doubt ignore what we are wearing if it comes to that._

Adva sighed. _What’s done is done and there’s no point arguing about it. Let’s keep going._

I nodded and stepped through the doorway, but stopped dead in my tracks almost immediately.

The cavern was _beautiful._ Echo flowers were the only source of light, but it was refracted over and over through small blue crystals high above us, creating the illusion of a starlit night. They weren’t real stars, but they were a _dang_ good substitute.

Moving quietly to avoid disturbing the near-sanctity of the cavern, I made my way over to the nearest echo flower.

_“A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky,”_ it whispered, in the cadence of someone reciting a poem or a well-loved book passage. _“If you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true.”_ The speaker sighed, slipping out of the recitation. _“Now all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling…”_

_That’s so sad,_ Lira murmured, and I agreed with her.

A sign on the wall read simply ‘Wishing Room.’

_They must come here to wish on the crystals,_ I realized. _This is the cavern we were looking for._

Tiger was suddenly on high alert. _You’re right! Look for any clear crystals that refract light in a different manner than the rest._

I nodded, then moved on to the next echo flower, keeping my eye out for crystals.

_“Thousands of people wishing together can’t be wrong!”_ This voice was hopeful. Determined. _“The king will prove that.”_

There were lots of crystals in this room, but trying to tell what color they were was hard in the dimness. I kept walking.

A child’s voice echoed from the next flower. _“C’mon, sis, make a wish!”_ The next flower over whispered, much quieter, _“I wish my sister and I could see the real stars someday.”_

_There!_ Lira hissed. _There, over by the floor!_

She was right. Even in the blue wash of the echo flowers, there were a few crystals that looked different from the rest. I hurried over and touched one. Color swirled across its surface for a heartbeat before solidifying into green with a bold yellow stripe.

_This is it,_ I said, a giddy sort of feeling washing over me. _This is really it. We found it._

_Grab it, then!_ Even Ebony sounded excited.

I took out our toy knife and used it to very carefully pry a small chunk of SOUL crystal out of the wall. It was about the size of a nickel – perfect for our purposes. I put the knife away and put the crystal inside the Tupperware where Mom’s pie had been, along with a stuffed Froggit to add some padding. That was the safest place for it at the moment. _So… What now? Mission accomplished, do we head home?_

_Um,_ Tiger piped up. _If… If we could, I would like to p-perhaps… stay in Waterfall a little longer? We have time! Mom should not be back before tomorrow morning, and I would like to see a little more of it before we go back to the Ruins._

Lira gasped. _Oh, can we??_

_I wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer,_ Ebony said begrudgingly, _but not too much longer. Undyne’s still out there, and the more time between us getting home and Mom getting home the better._

_Only another hour,_ Tiger reasoned. _That should give us enough time to get home before dinner._

Adva thought for a moment. _I suppose another hour would be alright._

I nodded, then wandered over to an echo flower growing by the wall. It was murmuring something about a horoscope – nothing that anyone would miss. I leaned in and whispered, “I wish that someday, things will be better for everyone.” Then I turned to the doorway out of the Wishing Room. _Alright then, let’s see what else Waterfall has to offer._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for not including the sleepover itself! That part of the chapter was fighting me, so I left it out. I may post it as a separate short story later, though! :)
> 
> Undyne’s dialogue was inspired by the song “Undyne,” from Man On the Internet’s Undertale the Musical!


	10. Water and War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our protagonists explore Waterfall. Spark doesn't like what they find.

Apparently, Waterfall had a whole lot more water to offer. I walked out onto a dock/wooden walkway, surrounded by dark water and cattails. On the wall were more plaques covered in ancient runes. I could make them out if I squinted.

_‘The… The War of Humans and Monsters,’_ I read, my heart sinking into my shoes.

_A war?_ Lira asked, her voice shaking.

Tiger sounded shaken, too. _What happened?_

I kept reading. ‘ _Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human SOUL.’_

Adva let out a harsh breath. _Tiger’s books said humans were stronger than monsters… I didn’t think it was_ that _big of a difference…_

Next plaque. I fought to keep my voice level. _‘But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their SOUL. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death. If a monster defeats a human, they can take its SOUL. A monster with a human SOUL… A horrible beast with unfathomable power.’_

_That must be why Undyne wants to kill us,_ Ebony said faintly. _And why Papyrus said we’d be taken to the capital. They want our SOUL so they can have its power._

That idea left a bitter taste in my mouth. It just felt incredibly _wrong_. We hadn’t _done_ anything to them, it wasn’t _our_ fault our SOUL was apparently so strong. _But_ why _do they want it? What could possibly be important enough to justify taking an innocent person’s SOUL? And why in the world would the humans initiate a war?_

_Guys._ Lira’s voice was soft. _I’m scared._

We didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say, really; we had no answers, only more questions, and the reasoning of the Royal Guard was starting to become clear. I really didn’t like the picture it was making.

The others wordlessly clustered around Lira, offering what meager support they could through their presence. They’ll have to go through us first, was the silent, empty promise.

I kept walking.

A small wooden raft floated at the end of the dock. I could see a thin line of… something sparkly, probably magic, leading away into the darkness.

_Guys...?_ I asked tentatively. _How badly do we really want to explore?_

Tiger hesitated. _… One more room. One more room, and we can go back._

_I don’t know, Ty, this seems kind of sketchy,_ Ebony pointed out.

_… I do not know if I will ever agree to leave the Ruins again after this,_ Tiger admitted quietly. _Certainly I will never agree to enter Waterfall again. I would like to see as much of it as I can before that happens._

I nodded and stepped onto the raft.

After a moment, the string of magic went taut, and the raft began to drift away from the dock. It was a surprisingly steady ride, probably due to the magic; I didn’t even need to sit down to keep my balance. Tiny waves lapped at the edges of the planks, and the light from the shore faded away into dimness. It wasn’t that far of a ride, not really, but it felt like it took hours before the raft finally bumped up against another dock.

I carefully stepped off the raft. The instant our foot left it, the string of magic went taut again and began pulling it back in the opposite direction, back toward the opposite shore. I cursed in shock and automatically tried to step back down, but the raft was already too far away. I could only watch as it disappeared.

For a moment, we were all silent. Then Lira let out a tiny, terrified sob.

_… Okay,_ I breathed, turning back to the dock we had landed on. It was dark and seemed to stretch for quite a ways. _Okay. There has to be a way to loop around. They wouldn’t have built a one-way bridge, not when people can apparently travel to Snowdin from the capital._

_Right,_ Adva agreed, her voice full of forced enthusiasm. _There has to be another way back to the Ruins._

Tiger started to sob as well. _I am so sorry I didn’t mean to I am so sorry we’re stuck because of me I am_ so _sorry –_

_Tiger,_ Ebony cut her off. _You didn’t know._

_But I –_

_Didn’t know,_ Ebony repeated firmly. _We don’t blame you for it. If you all forgave me for my dumb choices yesterday, we can certainly forgive you for something you didn’t intend._

Tiger sniffled. _Y-You’re right. Thank you._

_‘Course._

I took a deep breath and started walking. _Nothing for it, then. We keep moving._

The wood creaked and groaned softly under our feet as we continued forward. The darkness seemed almost oppressive, though maybe that was just because we could no longer turn back. Regardless, I had to force myself to keep going.

Then a spear shot out of the sky and slammed into the wood at our feet.

I yelped and stumbled backward, turning to see Undyne step out of the shadows in her full suit of armor, walking along a pathway I hadn’t seen before. Another spear was glowing in her hands.

_RUN!_ Ebony barked.

I ran.

The second spear split a plank next to me, and I shied away from it, still sprinting forward. I could hear Undyne’s heavy metallic footsteps chasing us, waiting for me to slow down. Another spear, this one whistling over my head as I ducked. Another cut a gash into our upper arm. Undyne seemed to have an unlimited supply of them, chucking spear after wickedly sharp spear at us, snarling within the confines of her helmet.

This was probably the tensest thing I had ever done. I could feel myself start flagging; keeping track of all the spears plus Undyne and dodging the ridiculous number of attacks was exhausting. I realized with a jolt of alarm that I couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

_More grass!_ Adva said suddenly. _There, at the end of the dock! Try to hide again, it’s our only shot!_

I was too tired to argue. I poured on an extra burst of speed, sprinting into the large patch of dry grass and basically flopping on my face. I curled into a tight ball, trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible.

Undyne’s footsteps drew closer.

_Please don’t find us please don’t find us please don’t find us…_ Lira muttered.

Closer.

_I’m ready to take over, just say the word. I’ll get us out of here,_ Ebony snarled.

I felt the ground right next to me shake with the force of a footfall, and the shine of metal greaves winked through the strands of grass less than a foot from our leg. I barely dared to breathe.

Undyne paused for a moment. Then her arm shot down, grabbing and pulling up –

… The little monster kid from before. They were grinning ear to ear.

The warrior seemed a little startled. She set the kid back down, hesitated, then stomped away.

For a long moment, I just lay there, heart pounding in my ears. Then I very cautiously uncurled and crawled out of the grass.

The dinosaur kid sprinted out of the grass after me, wriggling with excitement. “Yo, did you _see_ that??? Undyne just _TOUCHED ME!!!!!_ ”

I nodded absently, crawling over to the wall and resting my back against it. My legs felt like jello.

“I’m never washing my face ever again!!” the kid squealed. Then they glanced at me and sighed. “Man, are you unlucky. If you’d been just a little to the left, she might have grabbed you instead!”

A shudder ran down my spine. “Um… yeah, I’m… I’m happy to let you have this one, buddy. It obviously means a lot to you.”

“Oh, man, you’re so nice! But don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see her again!” they chirped. “You’ll get another chance, I know it!” The little monster ran off again, tripping once more. They were up and away before I even got the chance to ask if they were alright.

I leaned my head back against the stone of the cavern wall and just… breathed.

_Spark? Are you okay?_ Adva asked gently.

_Not really. My lungs hate me, my legs hate me, my common sense hates me,_ I sighed. _I’ll be okay, I just need a minute._

_You should try eating,_ Tiger urged. _Monster food has regenerative properties, remember?_

I frowned. _… No?..._

_It was in a book we read a few weeks ago,_ she prompted.

_I got nothing, sorry._

Tiger sighed. _Well, here is the summary: monster food is composed primarily of magic, and therefore has different effects on the body than human food. I was upset that we could not experiment a little, since we are limited in grocery choices in the Ruins._

_Try eating some Nice Cream,_ Lira suggested.

It couldn’t hurt. I dug one of our Nice Creams out of our backpack and unwrapped it, smiling at the happy little doodle on the inside of the packaging. _Aw, that’s cute._

_The frozen treat that warms your heart!_

I tentatively licked the ice cream and my eyes widened. _Wow. That is_ amazing _ice cream._

Lira gasped. _Better than the kind we made ourselves?_

_Yeah._

_Wow. I call the second one!_

_Fine by me,_ I snorted, enjoying my treat.

The others laughed, and I laughed a little, too. It was kind of surreal, sitting against the wall of a dim cavern with no obvious way to get back home, eating ice cream and laughing together after almost getting killed, but it was nice. It was exactly what I needed.

I finished my ice cream and put the trash back into our backpack – no sense in littering – then stood back up. My legs, amazingly, did not feel like jello anymore. _Wow, that actually worked._

_Of course it worked,_ Tiger huffed. _I know what I am talking about._

_Shouldn’t have doubted you._ I sighed and turned to the passageway ahead. _Let’s keep going, I guess._

There was a small alcove off to one side of the passageway; there was a crystallized piece of cheese, a mouse hole, and an echo flower. The flower repeated a tiny, frustrated squeak over and over.

_Maybe one day the mouse will get that cheese,_ Lira offered hopefully.

_Yeah,_ I agreed, hurrying on. _Maybe._

The next room was a little more interesting. I saw a telescope first, and eagerly went over to it. There was a note taped over the lens: _‘Prank in progress. Don’t use.’_

_A prank with a telescope?_ Tiger asked, confused. _What sort of prank would be pulled using a telescope?_

_I don’t know, but I’m not eager to find out._ I moved on to the box sitting nearby. _Hey, this is like the one near Snowdin! The one the box lover said would appear again!_

Sure enough, when I opened the box to look, I was met with the same pair of leather gloves from the box in Snowdin Forest. There were even a few snowflakes dotted across the leather from when we took them out to look at them. I left them where they were.

“What’s a star?” a small, onion-shaped monster asked suddenly. I had to suppress a flinch; I hadn’t seen them.

“Uh… what?” was my elegant, well-thought-out response.

The little monster tilted its head to one side. “Can you touch it? Can you eat it?”

I frowned. “Um… No, you can’t. They’re very far away and they’d be too hot to touch.”

It didn’t appear to have heard me. “Can you kill it?”

“N-No, no you can’t kill –”

“Are _you_ a star?”

_We should… leave,_ Adva decided. _Quickly._

I agreed whole-heartedly and walked away from the little monster, keeping my eye on it the whole time.

Then we walked into the next chamber, and my jaw dropped.

The wishing cave had been beautiful, but _this…_ The water itself was glowing a soft cyan, dotted with lily pads and cattails, giving the entire cavern an ethereal quality.

_… Wow,_ I breathed. _Wow._

_The Underground really is amazing,_ Tiger agreed.

Lira sighed. _I wish Mom had told us. I sort of get why she didn’t, now, but… I want to see these kinds of things_ with _her, not behind her back._

_We shouldn’t have to run and hide like this. We shouldn’t have to be afraid because we happen to be human._ I could count on one hand the number of times I had been so certain of anything. _This is not right._

_But what can we do about it?_ Lira asked helplessly.

_I… I don’t know. But there has to be_ something _we can do._

_Let’s get home first,_ Ebony reminded us.

Adva hummed in agreement. _If this is the Royal Guard’s top priority, it obviously goes a lot deeper than we’re seeing. We need time to process and plan before we can do anything about it._

_And maybe there will be more plaques somewhere!_ Tiger pointed out. _The more information we have, the better._

We kept going, that feeling of _this isn’t right_ still crawling under my skin.

I let myself be distracted by the gorgeous scenery; the glowing water had gotten into the grass, and even a few _trees_ , making them glow as well. I could have stayed here for hours.

We passed an echo flower. The voice it held grew louder, then softer again, as if it had caught a passing conversation. _“So? Don’t you have any wishes to make?”_

_“Just one,”_ another flower whispered. “ _But it’s kind of stupid.”_

_No wish is stupid,_ Lira said firmly. _Wishes are good, and important, and make people happy. That isn’t stupid at all._

_“Don’t say that!”_ the next flower echoed. _“I promise I won’t laugh.”_

_I said my wish earlier,_ I reminded the others, sidestepping a puddle, _but you didn’t make yours. What are your wishes?_

Tiger hummed thoughtfully. _I wish that I could visit the rest of the Underground without being afraid._

_I wish that we could make friends with everyone, so no one will want to hurt us anymore!_ Lira chirped.

Ebony sighed. _My wish is that I’ll never lose control again. That I can be brave and kind and not hurt anyone without meaning to._

_I wish that we knew why all this was happening, and how to help,_ Adva said quietly.

_You’re in luck,_ I told her. _There’s another plaque. Maybe this will explain some more._

The plaque looked like a direct continuation of the ones we had read earlier, but why they were so far apart was anyone’s guess. _‘The power to take their SOULs. This is the power than the humans feared.’_

_They started a war because they were scared?_ Ebony asked incredulously. _Scared of something a monster_ might _do?_

_That’s… that’s not okay,_ I said, feeling a little like a broken record. _That’s not right._

_No. It is not,_ Tiger agreed.

_So both sides are doing something they shouldn’t?_ Lira asked, sounding a little lost and a lot upset.

I shrugged, continuing on. _Basically._

The next area had normal water, which was a bit disappointing, but my disappointment quickly changed to apprehension as I saw something big shifting beneath the water.

_Keep walking,_ Ebony instructed, voice tense. She had obviously seen it too. _Don’t run, but do not slow down._

I did as she said, my heart in my throat.

Something long and yellow and sinewy broke the surface of the water to our left, and I forced myself to keep walking and not turn back to get a better look at it. Though as it turns out, I didn’t need to, because another one appeared a bit ahead of us to our right. It was a _tentacle,_ too big to belong to anything nonthreatening.

The tentacle wavered, then disappeared back underwater. Then another shape, much larger, emerged. It was almost like an octopus, if an octopus had an actual face, and its head was as big as our entire body.

“Hey… there… noticed you were here…” the monster greeted us. Their voice was low and thrummed through the water and up into our feet.

“… Hi,” I ventured.

It smiled. “I’m Onionsan. Onionsan, y’hear?”

“Nice to meet you!” I told them. “I’m Spark.”

“Are you visiting?” Onionsan hummed.

I nodded. “Yeah, from the capital. Waterfall is amazing, it’s so beautiful!”

Onionsan laughed. “It is pretty great here, huh! It’s my Big Favorite. I have to sit down all the time, but h-hey, that’s okay! It beats moving to the city and living in a crowded aquarium, huh!”

“Oh, um… I guess? I’d live here if I could.”

“Yeah! And… you know, all my friends moved, and the aquarium’s full anyway, so I couldn’t move even if I wanted to…” Onionsan was quiet for a moment before brightening again. “But I don’t, so that’s okay! Undyne’s gonna fix everything, y’hear!”

A shiver ran down my spine at Undyne’s name. “O-Oh? How?”

“I’m gonna get out of here and live in the ocean!” Onionsan let out a dreamy sigh. “It’s gonna be great! I’ll have plenty of room all the time and lots of new friends, y’hear!”

“I’m… I’m sure you will,” I told them with as much confidence as I could muster.

Onionsan seemed lost in their daydream, so I kept walking. As I was about to leave the cavern, they swam over to catch my attention again.

“I’ll see you around!” they hummed happily. “Have a good time in Waterfall!!”

“I will!” I assured them as they sank back below the water.

_That was… interesting,_ Adva decided as we entered the next room.

_I like Onionsan,_ Lira chirped.

I was about to answer, then got distracted by another plaque. _Guys, look, there’s more this time._

_What do they say?_ Tiger asked.

_‘This power has no counter,’_ I read, _by which I’m pretty sure they mean the power to take a human SOUL. ‘When a monster dies, its SOUL disappears, and an incredible power would be needed to take the SOUL of a living monster. There is only one exception: the SOUL of a special species of monster called a “Boss Monster.”’_

_Like you said Papyrus was, Tiger!_ Lira remembered.

Tiger hummed thoughtfully. _Yes, that would be my guess, based on the type of magic he used. Though, since it is a subspecies, does that mean Sans is a Boss Monster as well?_

_Maybe,_ Adva agreed. _He can be very threatening when he wants to be._

I kept reading. _‘A Boss Monster’s SOUL is strong enough to persist after death, if only for a few moments. A human could absorb this SOUL. But this has never happened. And now it never will.’_

_Well that’s depressing,_ Ebony snorted.

_Would it be worth it to absorb a monster’s SOUL?_ Tiger mused as we continued on. _Earlier, the plaques said that human SOULs were extraordinarily powerful. Adding a monster’s SOUL would be like a drop in a bucket, then, would it not?_

_Maybe it’s not so much about the amount of power, but the way that power interacts with the human’s SOUL that makes it a good idea. Maybe a human could utilize the monster’s magic,_ Adva suggested. _Though I suppose we would have no way of knowing._

The sound of rain made me pause. An old, abandoned statue sat forlornly in an alcove off of the main path, and an opening in the ceiling was allowing water to drip down onto it like rain.

_Oh. That’s sad,_ Lira whispered. _Why doesn’t anyone fix it?_

_Maybe they can’t. Leaks are tricky,_ I reminded her. We kept going. The sound of rain was still present; it was coming from ahead of us now.

As the rain sound grew louder, we saw a bucket full of umbrellas. _‘Please take one,’_ read a helpful sign.

Lira hummed thoughtfully, then gasped. _Spark, can I take over real quick?_

_Sure._

*

Lira

*

I grabbed a pretty red umbrella out of the bin, then hurried back to the statue. It was still being rained on, just like it was when we passed it the first time. I could sense the others’ fond amusement as they realized what I wanted to do.

It took me a moment to get the umbrella open – the darn thing was _stuck,_ no matter what Ebony said! – but I got it sorted out, then carefully leaned the umbrella against the statue’s arm.

_There!_ I declared triumphantly, taking a step back and grinning proudly at my achievement. _Now the statue won’t get rained on anymore!_

_Well done, Ly,_ Adva told me.

Tiger gasped. _Listen!_

We listened.

It was faint at first, but as more and more rain was caught by the umbrella, the sound grew louder. It was… a music box. The song was slow and sweet and a little sad, and I found myself utterly transfixed by it. Just us and the rain and the song.

After a moment, I blinked to clear my head, then smiled at the statue. “Thank you for the music. It’s very pretty.”

The statue, of course, did not answer.

I waved at it anyway. “I hope you enjoy the umbrella!” Then I turned and walked toward the unknown, the bittersweet sound of a music box at our back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I had lined up! I'm a little ways through writing chapter eleven right now, and if I include everything I want to include it's going to be a long one. So updates might be a little slow and sporadic from now on! But I really love this story and I'm starting to get a better idea of where the plot is going, so I'm going to keep writing it! It just might take me a while, haha
> 
> Have a great day!


	11. Rain and Ghosts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it was with Lira, so it is with Spark. A new friend is made and an old friend is visited. The plan changes.

Content with her umbrella detour, Lira happily gave me back control. I grabbed another umbrella out of the bin for us to use ourselves, opening it a few yards further down the corridor as the rain started.

_I do not think this is rain, really,_ Tiger mused as I walked. _This is probably just condensation dripping from the ceiling. That’s why it is localized and steady._

_I wonder how long it’s been raining in this exact spot._ Adva’s voice was contemplative. _And how long it will keep raining._

Tiger hummed thoughtfully. _So long as there is groundwater above us, indefinitely._

_Neat! I just like how rain sounds on an umbrella,_ Lira said happily. _Plink plonk._

“Yo!”

I turned, smiling when I saw the monster kid from before. “Oh, hey!”

“You’ve got an umbrella, awesome! Can we share?” they asked hopefully.

I remembered very abruptly that they did not, in fact, have arms. “Yeah, of course!” I held the umbrella out to the side so that we could both fit under it.

They scampered over and ducked under the umbrella. “Thanks! C’mon, let’s go!”

We walked in silence for a while. It was nice; just the sound of the rain and our footsteps splashing into puddles.

After a minute or so, the kid spoke up again. “Man, Undyne is _sooo_ cool. She beats up bad guys and _never_ loses!! If I was a human, I’d wet the bed every night knowing she was gonna beat me up!”

I just hummed in acknowledgment. Now wasn’t really the time to start debating why being human didn’t automatically make you a bad guy.

The kid didn’t seem deterred, though, because they skipped to a different story and kept talking. “So, one time we had a school project where we had to take care of a flower. The king – we had to call him ‘Mr. Dreemurr’ – volunteered to donate his own flowers. He ended up coming to school and teaching the class about responsibility and stuff.”

“Huh.” That was actually really surprising. “That sounds cool. What was he like?”

They shrugged. “Eh, he was really polite and nice. But that got me thinking: how _cool_ would it be if _Undyne_ came to school?? She could beat up _all_ the teachers!!”

I frowned. “I thought you said she only beats up bad guys.”

“Yeah!!”

“But aren’t the teachers just doing their jobs? Are they really bad people?”

They thought for a minute, then sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. She’s too cool to ever hurt an innocent person.”

I had to bite my tongue at that.

The corridor we were travelling down took a sharp turn and opened out into a truly massive cavern. My jaw dropped at the sheer scale of it. Glowing crystals dotted the ceiling, and in the far, far distance was a _city._ An honest-to-goodness city hundreds of feet underground, with a massive castle right in the middle.

_That must be the capital,_ Adva said in awe.

The monster kid was quiet beside us, their gaze suddenly a little more serious. When I finally tore my gaze away from the city and turned to go, they followed.

We left the gigantic cavern behind and went back to a smaller tunnel, which still had ‘rain’ dripping from the ceiling. There was a return bin for umbrellas, though, so I left ours.

“Yo…” the monster kid said suddenly. They were staring at a ledge that was almost taller than I was, their tail flicking back and forth. “This ledge is way too steep.”

“Are you sure this is the only way forward?” I asked, walking up to it.

They frowned, then seemed to come to a decision. “Yo, you wanna see Undyne, right?”

“… I guess?”

“Here, climb on my shoulders!” They knelt down to get a better foothold and braced themselves for our weight.

I hesitated, but decided to go with it. With the extra boost in height, I was able to hoist us up onto the ledge, where the path continued as if it had never been interrupted. Then I reached back down. “Your turn.”

The kid shook their head. “Nah, you go on ahead. I can’t get up as easy as you can. But don’t worry about me! I always find a way to get through!” They ran off again, tripping a third time.

“Good luck!” I called after them.

_I hope they’ll be okay,_ Lira said worriedly. _They want to see Undyne really badly._

_Eh, they’ll be fine. They said not to worry,_ Ebony reminded her.

_Still!_

_Guys,_ I interrupted quietly. _More plaques._

The others fell into a tense silence as I began to read.

_‘The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly and without mercy. In the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak.’_

_Humans. We can only work together when we have a common enemy,_ said Ebony bleakly.

I nodded and continued. _‘Not a single SOUL was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust._ ’

Lira made a confused sound. _Dust?_

_Monsters turn to dust when they die,_ Tiger explained quietly. _It was in the book Adva picked up in Snowdin._

_I don’t even remember what that book was about. I mostly used it to blend in,_ Adva admitted.

_Then lucky for you I was paying attention._

I huffed in irritation. _This all feels so wrong. It’s… I feel so bad for them! This was all so pointless and stupid!! They didn’t have to do this, they didn’t have to go to war!!_

Tiger sighed. _War is often pointless._

_Why can’t everyone get along?_ Lira asked sadly. _Why can’t we just be nice to each other and trust that even if someone_ could _hurt us, they won’t?_

_Even we can’t do that, Ly,_ Ebony murmured. _Maybe you can, and it’s amazing to me that you can still do that, but I can’t._

Lira sighed. _You at least try. I think Papyrus was right, anyone can be better if they just try._

_Your optimism is incredible, Lira,_ I told her as I continued on. _Keep it as long as you can._

_I plan to._

My steps slowed as I entered the next room; it was a long, meandering wooden bridge, suspended over a dark abyss. It looked mostly stable, but the room was dim, and it was making me _very_ uncomfortable.

_Are you okay here, Spark?_ Adva asked softly.

_Yeah. I can do this._ I took a shaky breath, then stepped out onto the bridge.

Nothing happened for the first few yards. We got far enough that I almost started to relax before a concentrated green glow materialized on the boards ahead of us. Then another appeared behind us. Within seconds we were completely surrounded by ominous patches of green. Then, with a crackling hiss of magic, spears shot up from each glowing patch like a hedgehog puffing up its spikes. The spears dissipated, Undyne’s heavy footfalls echoed from somewhere below us, and I bolted.

This chase was possibly more stressful than the last. I couldn’t see Undyne, for one thing; she was somewhere beneath us, but I didn’t have the proper vantage point to see exactly where. I just heard her footsteps and saw the spears appearing. And there were _so many_ of them! I was occasionally forced to stop running for a few seconds to avoid plowing face first into a glowing death spear. The stopping and starting and weaving was awful. And the bridge itself was a _nightmare,_ curving and turning back on itself, eventually turning into something of a maze as walkways split off from the main path and made everything a hundred times more confusing. I was sweating buckets and wheezing for breath as I turned onto yet another walkway – only to realize that there was no more walkway. I had hit a dead end, _again._ But this time, as I went to turn back and keep going, our path was cut off by a hulking figure in armor. Undyne had caught up to us.

The warrior stomped forward, a cruel chuckle echoing in her helmet.

I took a few deep breaths to try and get oxygen to our aching limbs, mentally preparing myself for the fight of our lives. Ebony was ready to take over at a moment’s notice.

A flash of green.

A volley of spears shot from the ceiling and splintered the wood between us and Undyne.

Our end of the bridge shook.

The boards fell out from underneath our feet.

We were falling.

And then there was nothing.

~ ~ ~

I woke slowly. The smell of flowers hung in the air, heady and calming. Everything hurt, and I was very tempted to just go back to sleep. A sense of déjà vu nudged at me.

_Spark!!! Spark are you okay!!!!_

_You’re awake, thank goodness._

_Are you injured?_

I groaned and forced myself up on our elbows. _What… what happened?_

_Undyne caught up to us, broke the supports of the bridge, and we fell,_ Tiger reported.

Adva hummed in agreement. _It was a long fall, we think._

_Any idea how long we were out?_

_None at all._

An icy sense of dread washed over me. _So Mom could be home by now and we would have no idea._

The tense silence was all the answer I needed.

Carefully, testing for injuries, I sat up. Our head ached (probably hit it when we fell), our legs ached (the muscles had had time to cool down after running for so long), our left elbow was twinging like it had helped catch our fall, we were covered in scratches (probably from the broken pieces of bridge), I was really tired, and our stomach was growling like a wild animal. In short, I felt like absolute garbage.

_Time for lunch, I think,_ Adva suggested.

I took off our backpack and rifled through it. _We have our cider, spider donuts, a Nice Cream, and leftover spaghetti._

_Spaghetti and cider. We have the most of that, and we need to regain a lot of energy._

I was too tired to argue. As hungry as I felt, I didn’t mind how slimy and chunky it was, or the fact that it was cold. I polished the spaghetti off in record time and washed it down with another third of our spider cider.

Suddenly, Lira gasped. _Our phone! We should check our phone! Has Mom tried to call us?_

My eyes widened and I quickly dug it out of our pocket. The screen was cracked, and it was slow to start, but there was indeed a message waiting for us. I opened it and let it play.

_“Hello my children!”_ Mom’s cheerful greeting was slightly tinny in the phone’s speakers. _“I wanted to call and say hello, but you are not answering, so I assume you are busy. That is quite alright! I have completed my errands faster than I thought and will be returning somewhat earlier than planned. I should be home by dinner! I will see you soon, my children, I love you!”_

My hands shaking, I checked the timestamp on the message.

Three and a half hours ago.

Ebony let out a harsh breath. _Three and a half hours. We were out for three and a half hours._

_Three and a half hours at_ least _,_ Tiger corrected faintly. _It is unlikely that Mom called immediately after we fell. The actual time span could be much longer._

_We have to get back._ Lira’s voice had a frantic edge to it. _We have to. Mom’s going to be so worried._

_What do we even say if she calls us again?_ Ebony asked. _‘Yeah, sorry to scare you, Mom, we were just getting chased by the Royal Guard and got a bridge dropped out from under us and passed out for a few hours. Oops!’_

_We’ll figure something out,_ Adva interjected.

Lira let out a soft, terrified whine.

_We_ will _figure this out._ Her voice was firmer now. _We just need to take this one step at a time. Let’s work out where we are, first._

A smart move. I shoved the empty spaghetti Tupperware into our backpack and stood up to take a look around.

We were still in Waterfall, at least; the flowers that had broken our fall were growing on a tiny island of rotten planks in the middle of a large area of standing water. A large waterfall was thundering down into the pool nearby, and I could see a probable way forward between the piles of garbage littering the room. Unfortunately, it would require wading through the water around us.

_That’s got to be almost waist deep,_ Ebony pointed out with trepidation. _If Undyne comes back, we won’t be able to run very well._

_If Undyne comes back, we’ll have no choice,_ I reminded her.

Adva sighed. _Leave our shoes on, there’s no telling what’s in that water. You don’t want to accidentally cut yourself and get tetanus or something._

_Whee._ I hefted the backpack higher on our back and stepped into the water before I could talk myself out of it.

The water was cold. Not bitingly so, but enough to make me wince as I took the careful steps down off of our little wooden island. Ebony had been right, the water came up to our hips, and wading through it into the next room was as slow as she’d feared.

The next room was… unsettling. There was another waterfall, another little platform, and more heaps of trash, but this time there was another waterfall flowing down. When I inched closer, I couldn’t see a bottom. It was just… nothingness. I edged carefully around the far side of the island after that.

_I wonder where we are,_ Tiger said quietly. _I did not get to study the maps of Waterfall as thoroughly as I would have liked, and I do not remember reading about this place._

_And where is all this trash coming from?_ Lira asked as I picked my way around yet another pile. _This doesn’t look like monster stuff, really, if that makes sense._

I slowed down and looked at the trash more carefully. _You’re right. There’s an old TV here, and a bicycle, and I think that’s a mailbox…_

_… Do you think… this is human trash?_ Adva asked slowly.

_That is possible. Given that the monsters are underneath human society, it is likely that at least some garbage would be washed down here,_ Tiger pointed out. _And given enough time, it is not out of the question for piles this large to accumulate._

_That’s awful!_ Lira sounded like she was about to cry.

Ebony sighed. _That’s how it goes sometimes. Let’s keep going._

Lira was right, but there was nothing we could do about it, so I kept walking. Out of curiosity, I pried open a half-submerged cooler to see if there was anything inside it. _Hey, look! Freeze-dried space food!_

_Take them,_ Ebony urged. _We need all the food we can get._

I nodded and pocketed the bars.

_I do not know if this counts as stealing…_ Tiger mumbled.

_Nah. It’s in a pile of trash, the cooler doesn’t have a_ brand _on it, never mind someone’s name, and there is no indication whatsoever that someone besides us wants these. It isn’t stealing if it doesn’t belong to anyone,_ Ebony reasoned.

I could sense Tiger’s dissatisfaction with that answer, but she didn’t argue.

The piles of garbage got smaller as we progressed, with less and less junk cluttering the water. It also felt like it was gradually getting shallower. Then – finally – we saw an exit, and the path beyond it looked dry.

_Oh, look, a dummy!_ Lira said happily. _Over there, on our right! It looks like the one from the Ruins._

It did look like the dummy from the Ruins. Weird. I decided to just leave it, though; we had a time limit. I had barely taken two steps past it when we heard it start to cackle.

The dummy sank into the water and popped up in front of us, floating ominously. Its sewn-on expression was contorted in anger. “Too intimidated to fight me, huh??”

“Oh, um. I mean, no? We’re on a tight schedule –”

“I don’t blame you!!” the dummy continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy.”

Lira gasped. _Maybe he knows Blooky!_

_Napstablook did say he lives in Waterfall,_ Tiger remembered suddenly. _Perhaps he can help us get home!_

“Um, hey, this might be a weird question, but do you know a Napstablook?” I asked the dummy.

They paused. “… What?”

“Napstablook? Really sweet ghost, great taste in music, kind of self-deprecating?”

“I… Yes. Yes, I know him. He’s my cousin!”

Lira squealed excitedly.

I grinned. “That’s fantastic!! Can you tell us where he lives? Because we’re kind of in trouble and could really use his help and –”

“Slow down, slow down, slow down!!!” the dummy barked. “I still haven’t decided not to fight you yet!!!”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

The dummy huffed in irritation. “And you’re being polite, too!!! How can I be properly angry with you if you’re being polite?”

I shrugged awkwardly. “I really don’t know. I don’t know why you’re angry with me in the first place, honestly.”

“Because you aren’t supposed to be in here, obviously, obviously, obviously!!!” the dummy screeched. “You’re not from Waterfall, are you? Or else you would know where Naps lives! And I would have seen you before! Which means you shouldn’t be here!!!”

“I’m trying to get out of here so I can go home,” I admitted quietly. “I fell down here, so I don’t really know where I am.”

“The dump, the dump, the dump!!!! Isn’t that obvious??”

I glanced back at the trash piles. “Sort of, yeah, now that you mention it.”

The dummy thought for a second, squinting suspiciously at us. “Hmm… If Naps likes you, you must not be all bad. Fine, fine, _fine,_ I’ll take you to his house! Without fighting you.”

“You will?? Thank you so much!” I could hardly believe our good luck.

The dummy grumbled, though there was no heat behind it, and turned toward the doorway. “Follow me. It’s not far.”

It really wasn’t far at all. The dummy led us down the path out of the dump, around a pond, and down another long hallway, then nodded toward two oddly-shaped buildings leaning away from each other. “That’s it.”

“Thank you so much for your help, really. You have no idea how much I needed to see a friendly face,” I said gratefully.

The dummy shrugged as well as they could without shoulders. “No problem. But just so you know…” A knife appeared, held aloft by magic, glinting wickedly sharp in the blue glow of Waterfall. “If you hurt Naps I will hunt you down and kill you, understood?”

“Understood,” I squeaked.

“Excellent, excellent, excellent.” The knife disappeared and the dummy floated away.

I let out a shaky breath. _Well that was a bit intense._

_Intense like Ebby,_ Lira decided. _They’re just trying to protect their cousin._

_Do you want to take over for this bit, Ly?_ I asked. _You're probably better friends with Napstablook than the rest of us._

_Sure!_

*

Lira

*

I bounced up and down on my toes a few times, then hurried over to the two buildings. One of them had to be Blooky’s, but which one? One was an orange-y pink and one was a blueish-grey… The grey one was probably where Blooky lived. I hurried over and knocked.

After a moment, a familiar shape phased through the door.

“Blooky!” I squealed, giving him a hug as best as I could. “Oh thank goodness I’m so happy to see you!!!”

“… Five...?” he asked slowly. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Ruins...?”

I nodded rapidly. “Yes! But I left to get a present for Mom, and now I need to get back but I can’t because the raft only worked one way! Do you know how to get out of Waterfall?”

Blooky hummed thoughtfully. “Well… you aren’t a ghost, so you can’t fly… The fastest way for you would probably be the Riverperson.”

“Who’s that?”

“The Riverperson ferries people back and forth between Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland,” Blooky explained. “The Waterfall stop is really close, actually…”

I sighed in relief. “Blooky, you’re wonderful, you know that?”

The ghost mumbled something inaudible, and his outline rippled like it did when he got flustered. “D-Do you want to… come inside, maybe, and listen to some music…?”

“Literally any other time I would, Blooky, but I can’t at the moment,” I said apologetically. “I have to get home in the next hour or two or else Mom will get really upset.”

“Oh… Well, that’s understandable… I can show you to the Riverperson’s stop, then, and you can come by some other time…?”

He looked so hopeful I couldn’t say no. “If I’m ever out this way again, I promise I’ll come say hello!”

Blooky rippled happily and floated around us. “I’ll make a new remix to show you. C’mon, we don’t want to upset Toriel.”

I nodded and followed him.

Blooky was far more of an accommodating guide than the dummy had been. He slowed down for us when he wasn’t sure we could keep up, and even stopped to let me get a rock out of our shoe, which the dummy would _definitely_ not have done. He led us back into the room with the pond, but went through a different tunnel, past a side cave labelled “Gerson’s Shop,” and into a small cave with a river running through it.

“Oh, the river!” I hurried over to the bank and peered both ways. “I… don’t see anybody, though…”

“Oh…” Blooky sighed, wilting a little. “Oh, they aren’t here… They’re probably at the Hotland stop… I’m sorry……”

They weren’t here.

“It’s okay, Blooky,” I said faintly, taking a step back from the bank. They weren’t here. Our fastest way home wasn’t here. “It isn’t your fault.”

What were we supposed to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't until I wrote this chapter that I realized 2016 me gave Blooky he/him pronouns, which threw me for a bit of a loop, since I was initially going to use gender-neutral language here and had to double-check my Ruins chapters to keep things consistent. I probably would have used he/him for Monster Kid and Mad Dummy as well, if I had gotten that far when I first wrote this. It's not often that I get juxtaposition like that, so I think it's kind of cool to see how my mindset has shifted in four years!


	12. Justice and Spears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the Waterfall arc. Undyne gives our protagonists an idea, and Tiger has an idea of her own. Sans is a good friend.

I took a deep breath and clenched my fists a few times, trying to ground myself. Okay. Plan A didn’t work, all we had to do was figure out a plan B.

_What are our options?_ Adva asked.

_We could try to swim back,_ Ebony offered. _Can’t be that far._

I shuddered. _No thanks._

_We could attempt to find the Riverperson,_ Tiger suggested.

Spark sighed. _That might be our best option. We’ve_ got _to get home, and if that’s the fastest way then that’s the fastest way._

“Blooky, you said the Riverperson’s probably in Hotland?” I asked, trying to sound more upbeat than I felt.

The ghost had drooped down onto the ground by this point, making sad ghost noises. “Yeah… they usually hang out there if they aren’t here…”

“And how far is it to Hotland?”

He frowned and floated upright again. “You’re going to walk?”

I let out another breath. “Maybe. I don’t know. It depends on how far Hotland is.”

“Well… If you imagine Waterfall as a line… You’re maybe two-thirds of the way down the line,” he said slowly. “So… I guess it wouldn’t be _too_ far…”

Adva hummed. _Sounds doable. I think we should go for it._

_So do I,_ Spark agreed.

“Okay. Which way is it?”

Blooky shimmered uncertainly. “I don’t go to Hotland all that often… But once you leave this cave, you should turn right, then go through the glow forest. After that I think it’s not too hard to navigate. I would go with you, but…”

I nodded. This wasn’t the first time Blooky had apologized for having a prior engagement. “You have work. Your family’s snail farm, right?”

“You remembered…?”

“Of course I remembered! You’ll have to show me around the next time I come to visit!”

My friend rippled happily. “I’d… really like that.”

_As wholesome as this is, we really need to get moving,_ Ebony reminded me.

“I’ll see you later, then, Blooky,” I told him. “Good luck with the snails!”

“Thanks… I’m sorry, again… I got your hopes up for nothing…” he sighed.

“Not your fault,” I said firmly. “And you gave me a lot more direction than I’ve had the rest of the time I was here!”

Blooky gave me a tiny smile, then phased through the wall and disappeared.

_Want me to take over, Ly?_ Spark asked.

I nodded and handed over the reins.

*

Spark

*

Okay. Leave the cave and turn right.

Unfortunately, as we made our way down the tunnel, we encountered more waterfalls flowing over the path. Fortunately, our socks and shoes were still wet, so I didn’t need to bother taking them off. Unfortunately, there were more plaques on the wall.

_‘Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans,’_ I read, my heart sinking into our shoes. _‘Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell.’_

_Magicians? Humans could do magic?_ Tiger gasped.

Lira whimpered. _They’re_ trapped _down here with magic??_

I kept going, my voice only shaking a little. _‘Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful SOUL can leave. There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human SOULs, attacks the barrier… it will be destroyed.’_

The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place, making a picture more horrifying than we had feared.

_So the monsters are trapped down here by a magical barrier,_ Ebony whispered, _and they want to use the power of our SOUL to help break it._

_There’s one more._ I took a shaky breath and read the last plaque. _‘But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever.’_

Lira broke down into sobs.

Tiger let out a distressed whine. _This is horrible! How…_ why _would the humans do something like this??_

_I don’t know,_ I admitted, feeling something dark and unpleasant churning in my gut. _But we’re going to do something about this._

_How?_ Ebony demanded. _This is so much bigger than we thought it was, Spark! Even when it was just Undyne wanting to kill us we didn’t know how to handle it! What are we going to do now that we know monsters are_ trapped underground _with no way out, and all they want to do is be free again??_

Lira’s sobs escalated into wails.

_There has to be something,_ I insisted, blinking back tears. _There has to be._

Adva let out a shaky breath. _Okay. I know we’re all rattled right now, but our goal hasn’t changed. We get to Hotland, find the Riverperson, and get home. Once we’re safe, we can figure out what to do next. Spark, Tiger, you’re both absolutely right; this is unacceptable, and we_ will _find a way to help, but we can’t do that from here. Right now we just have to get home._

_Small steps,_ Tiger agreed quietly.

_Small steps,_ I echoed, wiping my eyes and starting forward again.

We quickly encountered the area Napstablook had called the ‘glow forest.’ There must have been a reservoir of the glowing water underneath us, because the sparse trees and the grass and the mushrooms were all glowing a soft blue, illuminating the path just enough to see. It was absolutely gorgeous, but we were all still too upset to properly appreciate it.

After getting turned around only twice (Tiger started giving me directions after the second time), we made it through the tiny forest into a dim, otherwise-ordinary Waterfall tunnel. I could make out a second tunnel branching off to our left, but I headed for the echo flower in front of us first. It had been a while since we had listened to one, and maybe it would say something to cheer us up a little.

The voice in the flower was hoarse, spoken in a rough whisper. _“Behind you.”_

‘ _Behind you’?_ Tiger repeated, confused. _What is that supposed to –_

We froze at the sound of armored footsteps.

I turned around slowly, and sure enough, Undyne herself was cutting off our escape route.

“Seven.” The warrior’s voice echoed ominously through the visor of her helmet. “Seven human SOULs. With the power of seven human SOULs, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr, will become a god.”

“And why would anyone want to do that?” The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Undyne scoffed. “Because with that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity, and give them back the suffering and pain that we have endured.”

“But that won’t _solve_ anything!” I could feel Lira and Tiger backing me, adding their frustration and indignation and sympathy to mine. “That will just reverse the script! Then the humans will find a way to get revenge, then you’ll want revenge again, and it will never end! It’ll just be a vicious cycle of hatred!”

“What _choice_ do we have?” Undyne snarled, taking an aggressive step forward. “Do you understand, human?? This is your only chance at redemption! Give up your SOUL, or I’ll tear it from your body.” A glowing spear materialized in her hands.

Ebony hovered at the edge of control, ready to take over the moment I asked or needed her to.

Then, a tiny yellow flash darted out of a nearby patch of tall grass.

“Undyne!!!” the monster kid chirped, wriggling in excitement. “I’ll help you fight!!”

We all stared at them.

Then they noticed me, and their wriggling intensified. “YO!!!! You did it!! Undyne is _right_ in front of you!!! You’ve got front row seats to her fight!!!” They paused, glancing around the small tunnel, a confused frown on their face. “… Wait. Who’s she fighting??”

Undyne let out a soft snarl of frustration. She let her spear dissipate, grabbed the monster kid by the cheek, and dragged them away.

“H-Hey!” they squeaked. “You aren’t gonna tell my parents about this, are you??”

I stared after them, suddenly feeling sort of hollow. _They don’t know._

_No, they don’t,_ Adva agreed softly.

_They just wanted to be friends with us, they didn’t know she wanted to kill us._

Ebony sighed. _They’re kind of annoying sometimes, but they aren’t a bad kid._

I turned toward the branching tunnel. _We should get out of here before Undyne gets back._

The other tunnel was rather lovely, despite the ankle-deep water on the floor; like the wishing room, there were echo flowers everywhere, but there were also tiny floating motes of light. I slowed slightly to listen to what the flowers had to say.

_“Hmm… if I say my wish… you promise you won’t laugh at me?”_ the first flower whispered in a vaguely familiar voice.

_This is the conversation from earlier!_ Lira realized. _Gosh, they must not have talked for a while._

The second flower proved her right; these were the same voices we had heard earlier. _“Of course I won’t laugh!”_

_“Someday, I’d like to climb this mountain we’re all buried under.”_ There was a soft, dreamy sigh. _“Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around… that’s my wish.”_

A soft thread of laughter echoed from the next flower.

_“Hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh at it!”_

_“Sorry, it’s just funny… that’s my wish, too.”_

Lira sniffled. _They just want to be free. Why does something good like that have to lead to and come from so many bad things?_

I spotted another plaque on the wall and my stomach twisted. _Guys._

_Can’t be worse than the last one,_ Ebony pointed out quietly.

Tiger hummed in agreement.

_‘However… there is a prophecy,’_ I read. _‘The Angel, the One Who Has Seen the Surface… they will return. And the underground will go empty.’_

_Go empty?_ Lira repeated.

_There’s a lot of interpretations for that,_ Ebony mused. _It_ could _mean the monsters will be free, but it could also be… worse._

Lira gasped. _Maybe it means us! Maybe we can be the ones to set the monsters free!_

_Likely not,_ Tiger told her. _The prophecy refers to a single angel, which we are not – it says ‘the_ one _who has seen the surface – and prophecies are rarely of any consequence anyway._

_Well I’m going to_ make _it apply to us,_ Lira said stubbornly.

Adva chuckled. _Right there with you, Ly._

As we left the echo flowers behind, the tunnel widened. In front of us was a long wooden bridge, supported much better than the last one, with stalactites and stalagmites surrounding it. I took a deep breath and walked out onto it.

We had almost finished crossing when I heard a voice behind us.

“Yo!”

I turned. The monster kid had caught back up with us, looking no worse for wear. “… Hey.”

They shifted nervously from foot to foot. “Look, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but… I wanna ask you something.”

“Go for it.”

They opened their mouth, closed it again, hesitated, then laughed awkwardly. “Man, I’ve never had to ask anyone this before… Um… You’re… you’re human, right?”

I nodded.

“Man! I knew it!” They hesitated again. “Well… I know it now, I mean… Undyne told me, um, ‘stay away from that human!’ So, like, um…”

I crossed our arms. “Go ahead and spit it out.”

“I guess you being humans makes us… enemies or something,” they said uncertainly. “But I kind of stink at that. Can you say something mean so I can hate you? Please?”

“No! Absolutely not!”

They practically wilted. “Yo, what? So I have to do it? Um, here goes nothing… Yo, I… I hate your guts.”

I shook my head. “Stop. You don’t really mean that.”

“N-No, I don’t,” they admitted, scuffing their foot sheepishly against the wooden planks. “Yo, I feel like such a turd. I’m… I’m gonna go home now.” They turned and hurried back along the bridge.

I saw what was going to happen the instant before it did.

Like they had almost every time we had encountered them, the kid tripped. As they went to regain their balance, they hit a loose section of board and slid off the side.

A shriek from Lira built in our throat, but I swallowed it back as I saw them manage to bite onto the bridge.

“Y-Yo, w-w-wait! Help!” they screamed, their voice muffled by the wood.

I took a step forward, but paused at the distinctive sound of armored footsteps.

Undyne stalked forward onto the bridge, pacing toward us like a hunter with cornered prey. The safest thing for us to do would be to run the opposite direction; she wouldn’t leave the kid hanging there.

Lira didn’t even hesitate.

I felt myself being shunted off to partial control as she sprinted forward, dropping to our knees next to the weak section of boards. Together, we got a good anchoring grip on the bridge, then grabbed a big handful of the kid’s sweater and hauled them back up. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to allow them to get purchase and scramble up the rest of the way.

Undyne seemed almost taken aback. She took a pace backward, then shook it off and started toward us again.

The monster kid gave us a grateful smile, then turned to Undyne. “Y… y… yo… dude… If… If y-you wanna hurt my friend… You’re gonna have to get through me, first.”

The warrior paused. For one awful, nerve-wracking moment I thought she was going to charge us. But then she took a few steps backward, turned, and walked away.

After a moment, the kid turned back to us and let out a shaky breath. “She’s gone. Yo, you really saved my skin.”

“I wouldn’t just leave you like that,” Lira assured them, then backed away and let me resume full control.

They laughed. “Man. I guess being enemies was just a nice thought, huh? We’ll just have to be friends instead.”

I smiled at them. “I’d like that.”

“… Yo, what time is it? I should _really_ go home, I bet my parents are worried sick about me!”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, “mine too.”

They nodded in solidarity. “Later, dude!” And then they were gone, racing back the way they had come.

_I think that was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen someone do,_ Ebony said softly was we stared after them. _They stood up to someone they really admire because they didn’t want us to get hurt._

_High praise from Miss Bravery and Kindness,_ Adva noted.

_Ha ha._

_I’m serious!_

I sighed. _It was really cool of them to stand up for us. But guys, I don’t know if it was enough._

_You don’t think Undyne is going to stop._ It wasn’t really a question.

_No, I don’t. If we can get to Hotland she might leave us alone – it seems like Waterfall is sort of her territory. And according to Napstablook we should be close._ I went over a mental map of Waterfall just to be sure.

_… I want to fight her,_ Ebony admitted quietly, _but I don’t think I should. I’m going to do the same thing I did with Papyrus and go too far._

_If we have to fight, I won’t let you do it alone,_ I assured her. _We’ll do this like we do everything else. Together._

I could sense her relief and gratitude, even if she didn’t vocalize it. _Together._

We followed the bridge to a large stone outcropping, then crossed another, much smaller bridge. The tunnel continued for another hundred feet or so, then widened into a huge cavern. We could see the way forward: the mouth of the next tunnel yawned wide and jagged, covered in stalagmites jutting upwards like castle ramparts.

And on top of the tunnel’s mouth, facing out and away from us, stood an armored figure.

Undyne.

“Seven,” she said, the word echoing in her helmet, twisting with hatred. “Seven human SOULs, and King Asgore will become a god.” She turned toward us, the glow of Waterfall glinting on her helmet. “Six. That’s how many we have collected thus far.”

I felt sick. Six other humans had fallen down here, just like we had, and they had been hunted down and killed.

“Understand?” Undyne growled. “Through your seventh and final SOUL, this world will be transformed. First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people.”

_Really?_ Tiger murmured, like she was barely daring to hope.

“It all started long ago…” Undyne began, then paused. Her stance shifted from a stoic, storytelling position to something more aggressive. “No, you know what? SCREW IT! Why should I tell you that story when _you’re about to die???_ NGAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!”

The warrior ripped off her helmet, and for the first time, we saw her face.

She was… a fish? She had fins for ears, blue skin, an _eyepatch,_ and long red hair. Her razor-sharp teeth were bared in a terrifying grin. “YOU!! You’re standing in the way of everybody’s hopes and dreams! Alphys’ history books made me think humans were cool, with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen. But _you??_ You’re just a coward! Hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again!”

_A COWARD???_ Ebony seethed. _How_ dare _she???_

“I’m running because this can’t be the only way!” I shouted up at her. “Killing innocent people can’t be the only solution!”

Undyne laughed. “Oh, I’m well aware of your wimpy goody-two-shoes schtick! ‘Oooh, I’m making such a difference by hugging random strangers!!’ You know what would be more valuable to everyone? IF YOU WERE DEAD!!!”

I nearly choked on air. Time almost seemed to stop for a moment.

Lira whimpered.

Tiger and Ebony were deathly silent.

And Adva began to growl. It was low, almost too low to hear, but it was full of anger and old pain and a drive to protect.

“That’s right, human!” Undyne snarled. “Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone’s hearts pounding together! Everyone’s been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we’re not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can’t lose!”

It felt like a bolt of lightning, bringing a vague, half-formed concept into stark relief. _Together. Together we can’t lose._

_What, precisely, are you suggesting?_ Tiger asked in a hoarse whisper.

_When we have a common goal and similar methods of reaching it, we can all be in control simultaneously,_ I reminded her. _Ly and I did it earlier. If one human SOUL is as powerful as the entire Underground, imagine how powerful we would be working together._

_I can’t fight her,_ Lira said quietly. _I can’t._

_I can,_ Ebony growled.

_We will not die here._ Adva’s voice was as firm as the stone beneath us. _We will make it through this without hurting her, and we will make it back to the Ruins, and we will figure out a way to fix this. We’ve survived this long, and I’m not going to let her break that streak now._

Undyne stamped her foot, the resulting _clang_ echoing off of nearby stalagmites. “Now, human! Let’s end this, right here, right now. I’ll show you how determined monsters can be!” She leapt off of her perch, diving down toward us with a spear in her hand.

I took a deep, steadying breath, and allowed the others to share control.

We were pulled into an encounter.

*

Three

*

Undyne seemed immediately taken aback by our SOUL; there were four rings of color now, one red, one orange, one yellow, and a core of green. Three of us working together. But she quickly composed herself and tossed the spear sideways at us. “En guarde!”

Instinctively, we caught it. As we did, it morphed into a glowing green shield, and our SOUL turned solid green.

_This is like the attack Papyrus used,_ Tiger realized. _She’s using SOUL magic. Be careful._

We nodded and tried to shift away from whatever attack the warrior was planning, but we very quickly discovered what green magic did. We were now stuck in place.

“As long as you’re green, you can’t escape!” Undyne snarled triumphantly, a new spear materializing in her hand. “Unless you learn to face danger head-on, you won’t last a _second_ against me!!”

She threw a volley of spears at us. Despite the unfamiliar magic and the weight of the shield, we managed to bring it up to deflect them just in time.

Undyne cackled. “Not bad! But how about _this?_ ”

More spears. This time, some of them arced around to attack us from the sides, and we were forced to swivel in place to block them. One of the spears slammed into our side, and we bit back a curse as it dissolved. At least we didn’t have to worry about dragging it around.

“For years, we’ve dreamed of a happy ending. And now, sunlight is just within our reach!” Undyne threw another spear. It splintered against our shield, and we would have staggered back from the force of it if we weren’t being held in place.

“And what about us?” we demanded, getting a better grip on our shield. “Why don’t we get to have a happy ending, too?”

“You don’t _deserve_ one!! The humans trapped us down here, so they need to pay for it! Starting with you!!”

Another volley. Then, with a soft shimmery feeling, the green magic fell away. Undyne hefted another spear and chucked it straight at our SOUL.

We ducked out of the way, breathing heavily. It felt weird to be able to move again, but Ebony’s sparring techniques had become instinctive.

_Run,_ Lira said suddenly.

Tiger gasped. _She’s right! Most of the place names down here are extraordinarily literal; Undyne is some sort of fish monster, so if Hotland is really a hot place, she might overheat and be forced to turn back!_

_That’s brilliant,_ we admitted, shifting our feet to get a better foothold. We would only have one shot at this.

Undyne created a new spear.

Wait.

She held it up.

Wait.

It left her hand.

_Now._

We hefted up our shield and _sprinted,_ using her instant of confusion to duck past her and into the tunnel. We barely had time to register the sound of a rushing river below us when we were yanked back into the encounter.

“You won’t get away from me this time!” Undyne snarled, and the green magic closed around our SOUL once again.

“And _you_ can’t hold us responsible for things that we weren’t a part of!” we shot back, deflecting spear after spear. They were coming faster now, and there were more at a time. She was obviously getting angrier. Good; anger would make her sloppy.

She laughed incredulously as she attacked. “That’s exactly what the humans did!!! I was born down here! I have _never seen the sun,_ and neither have most monsters!! We’re being punished for things we didn’t do, so why shouldn’t you??”

_Behind you!_ Lira shrieked.

We turned too late, and a spear hit us in the shoulder.

“Honestly, I’m doing you a favor,” she continued. “No human has _ever_ made it past Asgore! Killing you now is an act of mercy! So _stop_ being so dang resilient!!”

“We just want to get _home!_ ” We kept deflecting, but the spears were coming faster and faster. Undyne had stopped throwing most of them, and was now creating them out of thin air all around us. We couldn’t keep this up forever. But strangely… as heavy as the shield was, as difficult as it was to keep track of the spears, as much as the spear wounds hurt… we didn’t feel as tired as we should. We felt focused, and determined enough to get through this. Brave enough to stand up to an experienced fighter like Undyne. Certain enough that this was wrong to keep fighting it.

The green magic melted away again, and Undyne sent another volley straight at us.

We were slightly more prepared this time, so we swung the shield like a baseball bat and slammed the spears out of our way, sprinting around her again and making for the far end of the tunnel.

A giant sign loomed above us. ‘Welcome to Hotland!’ scrolled across it in enormous red letters, though we got very little time to appreciate it. Undyne caught up and dragged us back into the encounter as we drew even with the sign.

“You’ve escaped from me for the _last_ time!!” she screamed, turning our SOUL green once more. Spears shot at us from every angle. “Alphys told me humans were determined. I see now what she meant by that.”

“We aren’t just going to sit back and let you kill us!” we returned.

_Watch out, there’s a yellow spear now,_ Tiger warned.

That sounded like trouble. We raised our shield to catch it… but at the last moment, it zipped around to the other side of us and slammed into our back. We bit back a cry of pain.

_Yellow spears switch direction,_ Tiger said, sounding shaken. _Noted._

_It’ll be okay, Ty,_ we assured her. And it would. We would make sure of it.

“Well, I’m determined too!” Undyne threw a spear so hard it nearly cracked our shield. “Determined to end this RIGHT NOW!!”

More yellow spears appeared along with the normal spears, shooting around us and slamming into our shield. We only caught them thanks to Tiger’s panicked directions.

Undyne’s grin twisted into a frustrated snarl. “NGAAAAAHHHH!!! DIE ALREADY, YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!”

This time, the volley was entirely yellow. We stopped thinking and let Tiger guide us, twisting back and forth and feeling spear after spear slam into the glowing green magic. One slipped through our defenses and hit our upper arm, but we managed to block the rest.

Undyne let out a screech of rage, and the green magic shimmered away a third time.

We took a deep breath, and when the angle was just right, we leaped forward and _rolled._ We did a somersault directly between Undyne’s legs, taking off at a dead sprint as soon as our feet hit the ground. The text of the welcome sign scrolled past us, making the run dizzying. The air was starting to get warmer.

Suddenly, without warning, our phone rang. We reached into our pocket and switched it off; now was _not_ the time, especially if it was Mom calling.

“STOP RUNNING AWAY!!!” Undyne screeched, yanking us back into the encounter.

“Stop trying to kill us!” We raised our shield, ready to defend. But as the first spears shot toward us, we realized that she hadn’t turned our SOUL green. We could run. So as soon as the first volley stopped, we slung our shield across our back like a turtle shell and sprinted away.

Undyne let out an inarticulate scream of rage and ran after us, tugging us back into the encounter again and again, but every time she did, the instant it became our turn we ran toward Hotland as fast as our legs would take us. The temperature kept going up the closer we got.

Eventually the tunnel widened, and we saw instantly why it was so hot in here. There was _actual, real, literal lava_ flowing in rivers around large outcroppings of stone, making the ambient temperature ridiculously high. We also saw _Sans_ napping at a sentry station just before the bridge out to the first outcropping. What was he doing here??

Adva had tried waking Sans from a nap before, so we knew better than to try and ran straight past him. Undyne, however, paused for a moment to yell at him. Something about getting his lazy butt up and helping her kill us, we weren’t really paying attention. Then she was after us again.

We kept running, sprinting _far_ faster than we should have across a wooden bridge suspended over a river of lava. This was possibly the most terrifying thing we had ever done.

As we reached the other side, we looked back to see Undyne flagging.

“Armor… so… hot…” she gasped, staggering toward us. “But I can’t… give up…” She took a few more stumbling steps, then collapsed. We felt the shield on our back dissipate.

_Is… that it?_ we asked tentatively, still keyed up to run. _Is it over?_

_No. Not yet._ Lira very, very gently nudged at us. We resisted at first, but when she grew more insistent, we let her take over.

*

Lira

*

I took a deep breath. The hits from the spears stung, but not as much as I was expecting. No time for that now, though!

There was a water cooler on this little rock island that the three working together hadn’t had time to notice. I ran over to it, filled up a little paper cup, and hurried over to Undyne.

_What are you doing?_ Ebony hissed.

_Trust me._ I carefully poured the cool water on Undyne’s head, then stepped back.

After a moment, Undyne groaned and sat up. She shook her head, scattering water droplets everywhere, then blinked in confusion. She glanced over at me. Her expression was impossible to read, so I just stood there, still holding the paper cup. Then she stood up shakily, turned, and left without a word.

I waited until I was certain she wouldn’t come back. Then I just sort of plopped down as all the tension and adrenaline drained out of our body.

_Ly, that was a really good thing you just did,_ Adva told me quietly.

_Heat stroke is nasty! No one should just be left to fend for themselves when they’re hurting like that,_ I said matter-of-factly, taking my paper cup back to the water cooler and getting a drink for myself.

Ebony laughed a little hysterically. _That was insane. What we just did was insane. It shouldn’t have worked._

_But it did!_ Spark said excitedly. _And I don’t know about you, but I felt…_

_Stronger,_ said Ebony.

_Braver,_ Adva agreed.

Spark hummed. _It felt like things were easier than they had been. Like I didn’t get tired as easily, and things hurt less than they did before._

_And we could see and process more things,_ Ebony added. _I don’t think any one of us could have blocked that many spears, there were just too many. But I guess with three people looking, it was easier._

_It was kind of hard to keep up for that long, but I can’t believe we haven’t tried doing this intentionally before!_

Tiger spoke up. _Perhaps… perhaps we can use this._

_Use it how?_ Adva asked, confused.

_To help break the barrier._

For a moment, all of us were dead silent.

_… Break the barrier?_ I asked tentatively. _You… You think we could?_

_I think we have just proven that we are stronger together than apart, and that while working together we are likely stronger than any individual human SOUL. Surely the right people could find a way to harness that power without killing us,_ Tiger insisted.

I could feel a spark of hope starting to flare up again. _So we just need to find the right people!_

“Heya.”

I yelped and spun around.

Sans waved. “’Sup?”

“Sans thank goodness!” I practically tackled him with a hug, nearly knocking him over. “Today has been the worst day ever and I’m so glad Undyne’s not chasing us anymore and I’m so glad to see you and everything’s bad we have to get home _now_ and we don’t know how and –”

“Geez, kid, _breathe._ ”

I sucked in a huge breath, still not letting go of him. His jacket smelled like ketchup. “S-Sorry.”

He sighed and patted me on the back. “You’re supposed to be back in the Ruins right now, what happened?”

“We got stranded.” My grip on his jacket tightened. “We got the crystal but then the raft only took us one way, and then Undyne chased us and we fell down and lost like four hours and Mom’s on her way home and I have no idea what time it is, and Blooky said the Riverperson was our fastest way back but they weren’t there and then he said they were probably in Hotland and then Undyne hit us with a bunch of spears and it’s all _bad._ ”

“… Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great time. Sounds like you could use some help.”

I gasped and pulled back so I could see his face. “Really??”

He winked at me. “Having so many jobs lets me take a lot of breaks. I just clocked out. C’mon, the Riverperson’s this way.”

I followed Sans like a duckling down a path away from the lava, down some steps, then out into a cave a lot like the one back in Waterfall, river and all. A robed figure sat in a boat tied to the bank, humming quietly to themself.

“Heya,” Sans greeted them.

The hood dipped down and back up in a nod of greeting. “Tra la la. Care for a ride?”

Sans nodded, stepping into the boat and offering me hand up. “Take us to Snowdin, please.”

I hopped in as well, letting Sans help me because it was polite and that was a big step. As soon as I was settled, the boat turned around and began gliding smoothly down the river.

“Tra la la,” the Riverperson hummed. “The angel is coming. Tra la la.”

The angel.

Suddenly, everything felt like it was too much. I felt tears welling up but I no longer had the emotional energy to hold them back. Everything hurt and everything was bad and I just wanted to go _home._

“Oh geez.” Sans carefully guided me down to sit on the bottom of the boat. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay, kid. You got any food on you? You look a little banged up.”

I nodded shakily. “W-We… We have a N-Nice Cream l-left, I think, a-and a d-donut and-and…”

“Nice Cream will work. Backpack?”

Another nod.

Sans very carefully slipped our backpack off of our shoulders and started rummaging around in it.

_Breathe, Lira,_ Adva reminded me gently. _Just breathe. We’re on our way home. We’re safe._

_You aren’t in any danger. If anything tries to hurt us I’ll deal with it,_ Ebony promised.

I sniffled and wiped tears away with the cuff of our sweater sleeve, but it didn’t really do much. “S-Sorry, I... this…”

“From everything you said, you had a rough day.” Sans handed me the unwrapped Nice Cream, then held up the wrapper. “But hey, ‘you look nice today’!”

I giggled through my tears and took a bite of ice cream. “… Thanks.”

He shrugged and sat back. “Eh, it’s no problem, kid. Told you I’d keep an eyesocket out for ya. That includes making sure you’re doing okay.”

“Everything’s just so messed up, Sans,” I whispered, staring down at the Nice Cream like it could tell me what we needed to do. “I want to help, we all want to help, but this _can’t_ be the right way. There’s… There’s so much bad, every side has done so many bad things, and I just w-want people to be h-happy.” A fresh wave of tears spilled over, and I choked back a sob. “W-Why can’t we all j-just be okay, a-and not _h-hurt_ anyone, and –”

“Hey, hey. Nice Cream first,” Sans said gently. “Food will help you feel better. Yeah, it’s a bad situation, but it’s been a bad situation for a long time. That’s the part that doesn’t really sink in when you get the crash course; we’ve been down here for a very, very long time. And yeah, we want out, but it’s not going to hurt anyone to be down here a little bit longer. It’s great you want to help. But right now you should get home and rest.”

I sniffled again and kept eating. The others very gently clustered around me, silently letting me know they were there and it would be alright.

“I saw what you did for Undyne.”

“Y-You did?”

He nodded. “Most of that little breakdown you’re having was her fault. She chased you all around Waterfall and roughed you up real good. But when it came down to it, you still helped her when she needed it. You could have left her, no one would have faulted you for that.”

“No one should be left alone when they’re hurting,” I said quietly, taking another bite of ice cream.

Sans’ grin was relaxed and genuine. “Heh. Kindness all the way through, alright. With a SOUL like that, you’ll be okay, kid. You’ll do the right thing in the end.”

I smiled back and kept eating my Nice Cream.

After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, the boat slowed. I realized it was a lot colder now.

“Come again some time. Tra la la,” the Riverperson hummed.

I stuffed my trash into our backpack, Sans helped me out of the boat, and I waved goodbye to the Riverperson as we headed into Snowdin.

“Feeling better?” he asked casually, leading me toward the edge of town closest to the Ruins.

I nodded. “Yeah, a lot better. Thanks.”

“No problem.” We walked for another minute or so, then he glanced over at me. “One of you asked about how I got places so fast. Who was it?”

“That was Tiger. She’s the one who really likes puzzles and knowing how things work,” I told him.

“Well, I think we’re far enough out from town, so she’s about to get a bit of a demonstration.” Sans’ grin took on a mischievous edge. “Grab my jacket and don’t let go, I’m told this is really disorienting.”

I quickly grabbed his jacket sleeve as tight as I could. “What are you –”

Before I could finish my question, Sans took a step forward, and things _bent._ It felt almost like watching stars out of a spaceship’s windshield as it jumped to hyperspace, the points of light dragging away and bending around you.

Then it was over, and we were standing in front of the door to the Ruins.

I made a tiny, confused, distressed noise.

“You good, kid?” Sans asked. He looked tired, like that had taken a lot out of him.

I nodded shakily.

“You sure?”

I nodded again.

“’Cause you still haven’t let go of my jacket.”

It took me a second, but I managed to open my hand and get my brain wrapped back around where I was in space. Then Tiger started nudging at me, bursting with questions. “Tiger wants to know… basically everything about what you just did.”

Sans chuckled. “I figured, but that’s gonna have to be a conversation for another time. Right now, you gotta get home.”

“Right.” I reached forward and tugged on the door handle; it took some effort, but the door swung open. We had made sure to leave it unlocked when we left… gosh, was it really only yesterday morning? I turned back to Sans. “Bye! Thanks for everything, we’ll see you around.”

He raised a hand in a lazy wave. “Bye, kid. Good luck. I’m gonna go take a nap.” And then he walked behind a tree and disappeared.

I took a deep breath and stepped inside the Ruins, pulling the door closed behind us.


	13. Heartache and Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reunion. A recounting. Questions.

_Do you hear that?_ Tiger asked as we walked down the long purple hallway.

_No,_ I told her, still trying to readjust to the familiar purple tinge of the Ruins. _What does it sound like?_

_Listen._

We listened.

It sounded like… crying? Yes, someone crying, off in the distance. And we all realized with a sickening jolt that there was only one person it could be.

We bolted for the stairs.

“Mom?” I shouted, taking the stairs two at a time and swinging around the bannister in a way I had only dared to do a few times before.

The sobs were coming from the living room, and as I barreled in, Toriel looked up like she was seeing a ghost. She looked awful. Her eyes were red from crying, her fur was mussed, and she was curled up in her armchair looking small and lost.

I slowed as I walked over, kneeling down next to the armchair. “Mom?”

“My… My children?” she whispered, her voice full of a fragile hope.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes again. “We’re sorry it took us so long to get back.”

With another sob, Toriel pulled us into a near-suffocating embrace. “Oh, my children, I thought I had lost you!”

We hugged her back just as tightly, burying our face in her fur. “We’re so sorry.”

For a moment, we just cried together, the five of us happy to be home and Mom happy to see us again. But it couldn’t last, and Mom pulled back, wiping the tears from our face.

“You promised,” was all she said.

Those two words were like a bullet to the chest. I started sobbing again, harder this time, stammering out apologies that I now saw wouldn’t ever be enough. We had broken her trust. Somehow, that hurt worse than anything else we had experienced on our journey.

Very gently, Adva nudged me aside.

*

Adva

*

I took a deep breath, wiping away tears and trying to calm down. “Mom, we didn’t leave just for the fun of it, I hope you know that. We’d never break a promise just for the sake of breaking it.”

“Then why did you leave?” This was the sternest Toriel had ever acted toward us. It _hurt._ “You promised me you would not leave the Ruins, and left me with only a small note saying you had gone to Waterfall and would be back soon. From what I understand, you were hoping to hide the fact that you had left at all. I expected better of you.”

“I know, we just – I know we can’t apologize enough for this,” I said miserably. “We wanted to help you. You’ve been so kind to us, and we wanted to make your life easier.”

“By running away?”

I shook our head, ignoring the sting of that comment. “No. We were after something you can only get in Waterfall.” I set our backpack on the floor and rifled through it, pulling out the Tupperware container where we had stored our prize. The stuffed Froggit had provided enough padding that running from Undyne hadn’t scratched up the crystal at all. I carefully took it out, watching as the white surface swirled into red and green, then held it up to Toriel.

She gasped quietly, one paw hovering over the crystal like she was afraid to touch it. “Magicite... You went to Waterfall to find Magicite? But this… Why?”

Spark stepped forward for just a moment. The crystal responded almost instantly, my swirls of red fading into yellow then returning to red again as she stepped back.

Understanding dawned on Toriel’s face. “You went to find Magicite so I would be able to tell you apart?”

I nodded.

Toriel stared at us, speechless. Then, with a soft cry, she pulled us back into a fierce hug.

As I hugged her back, I knew we hadn’t been forgiven. Not by a long shot. But at least we understood each other now, and she wasn’t angry with us. That was a start.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Toriel was waiting for us at the table, her paws folded in her lap, looking serious.

“… Good morning, Mom,” I greeted her.

_This can’t be good,_ Ebony muttered.

“Good morning, my children. Please have a seat.”

I sat down cautiously. “What’s this about?”

Toriel sighed. “My children, your little adventure was – while done with good intentions – extremely ill-advised. You promised me that you would stay in the Ruins and you promised me that you would be good while I was away, and you broke both of those promises. Again, I understand that you did what you did with good intentions, but there must be consequences for your actions.”

I nodded. We had expected this; it had taken us a while to fall asleep last night worrying over the possibilities.

“You are grounded for the next two weeks, which means you are not to leave the house at all. I will put another lock on the door out of the Ruins, and I will not tell you where the key is. You are lucky I am not going to destroy the exit entirely! And you will not be left alone for a very long time,” Toriel listed, finishing with a stern glare. “It will take time for you to earn my trust again. Do you understand?”

I nodded again, pushing past the sting of disappointing her. “We understand.”

“Good. Now, breakfast is in the kitchen; I would be happy to hear about your adventure while we eat, if you would be willing to tell me about it.”

_Ly? Do you want to take this?_

_Sure._

*

Lira

*

I ran to the kitchen and grabbed breakfast – toast and eggs, yum – then came back to the table and sat down next to Mom. “So, the first area we got to was Snowdin Forest…”

She listened attentively as I told her about everything: meeting Sans and Papyrus (though I didn’t tell her she knew Sans, since the two of them hadn’t exchanged names yet), Tiger solving lots of puzzles, how much fun the snow was, buying Nice Cream, having our first sleepover, Papyrus’ spaghetti… I didn’t talk about our fight with him. That was the point where we put the dishes away and moved to the living room.

“Waterfall is my new favorite place! And Ebby’s, too!” I gushed. “It was so pretty!! The water _glowed_ and so did the plants, and echo flowers are so cool, and all the waterfalls everywhere and it was _awesome!_ But… it was also really scary.”

“Scary?” Toriel sat forward slightly. “Scary how?”

I hesitated. “Well… that’s where Undyne was.”

“I don’t believe I know that name.”

“Undyne’s in the Royal Guard,” I explained. “She wants our SOUL so the king can break the barrier and get everyone out of here. She chased us a lot.”

Toriel’s expression darkened, and her grip tightened on the armrests of her chair. “Asgore. That is the king’s name.”

I nodded. “Yeah, Asgore Dreemurr, according to Undyne. But… he didn’t sound bad, from what other people have said about him. Which doesn’t make any sense to me! How can he do such bad things if he isn’t a bad person?”

“If you asked him, he would tell you that being king often means doing what is best for your people, rather than yourself.” Mom sounded… bitter, almost. “He would _not_ tell you that being a coward makes it impossible to do what is right when things become difficult.”

“… Mom? Are you… Are you okay?”

She blinked, and it was like a curtain lifted. “Oh! Yes, I am alright. My apologies. You were telling me about Waterfall.”

That was… really concerning, honestly, but pushing it was probably a bad idea right now. I cautiously continued, describing our new monster kid friend, the squeaky mushrooms, the wishing room, finding the crystal, and the one-way raft.

“And that is why you were not home before I was?” Mom asked softly.

I nodded. “If we’d turned around before then, we would have been home in plenty of time.”

“Why didn’t you?”

_Ty, can I tell her?_

_… Yes._

“Tiger said she wasn’t ever planning to leave the Ruins again once we got back, and she wanted to see as much as she could before we went home,” I explained quietly. “She was the most against this, right from the start.”

Toriel smiled gently. “Thank you for that, my child. Integrity is a fitting color for you.”

I kept telling our story, but when I began describing the plaques, Spark had a question none of us had considered before.

“Mom, how much do you know about the war between monsters and humans?”

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “Well… Quite a bit, as it happens. I was there for it.”

What.

She laughed at our gobsmacked expression. “It’s true! I was young then, of course, but I was old enough to remember. And even to fight, at one point.”

“You? Fighting?” I gasped.

“A silly image, is it not? I am no warrior now, certainly,” she chuckled. “But… yes, I remember the war. It was short, for what it was, and horribly one-sided. The humans outnumbered us and overpowered us. We stood no chance.”

Spark had another question. “Why did it start?”

Toriel sighed. “Goodness… It was an accident. Before the war, humans and monsters mingled freely, and there were even instances of monsters and humans falling in love. In one of these instances… we aren’t certain what happened, or at least I was never told the details. But the human died, and the monster absorbed their SOUL. An attempt to keep them close, I would imagine. Do you know what monsters are made of, my children?”

“… Magic?” I said tentatively, trying to remember.

“Correct. Humans are far more physical than we are; our bodies are not made to withstand the raw power of a human SOUL.” Toriel’s gaze was unfocused and far away. “Any monster that absorbs a human SOUL becomes… unstable. Dangerous. The humans called it a demon, and once they learned how it had formed… the war began.”

I suddenly wished I hadn’t asked that question. “Oh.”

Toriel smiled at us, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know that this is hard for you to learn; it seems monsters and the war itself have been wiped from human history, and you are all so full of kindness. I am glad that you see this was wrong.”

“ _Both_ sides have done bad things, though,” I pointed out. “The humans shouldn’t have attacked, and shouldn’t have sealed monsters underground, but Undyne said that they have six human SOULs now, which means innocent people have gotten hurt. None of that is okay.”

“No. It is not,” Toriel agreed.

We sat there in silence for a moment.

Spark had one more question to ask. “Mom, what do you know about the barrier?”

“The barrier?” She seemed slightly surprised by that. “Well, it is a one-way seal put in place by seven human mages. Only a power equivalent to seven human SOULs can break it. The barrier is at the far end of the caverns, right next to the capital. That is all I know about it, I am afraid; I only saw it a handful of times.”

_Not helpful,_ Spark concluded. _We need to know who has more information on it._

_Later. We’re already pushing our luck right now,_ Ebony cautioned.

“… Should I keep going, Mom?”

“By all means.”

So I kept talking. I told her about the old statue (it seemed to make her even sadder for a moment), the condensation-rain, seeing the capital off in the distance, the dump, going to Hotland (I didn’t tell her about Napstablook; I didn’t want to get him in trouble), all the lava, seeing Sans again, and the Riverperson giving us a ride back. I didn’t mention my breakdown.

“You have been on quite the adventure, my children,” Toriel sighed when I had finished. “I am sorry it also taught you about the war and the barrier. You should not concern yourselves with such things.”

We frowned. “Why not?”

“Because they are not your concern or your responsibility.” Mom’s tone grew sharper.

“But Tiger had this idea –”

“That is enough!” She cut us off, then softened after a moment. “My apologies, I should not have raised my voice. You do not need to worry about trying to break the barrier. It will happen in its own time, if it is meant to happen at all. And if you leave the Ruins again, Asgore will hunt you down and kill you. I will not allow you to rush into danger.”

I huffed in frustration. “But Mom, we might be able to help!”

“I will _not_ let you throw your lives away!” she snapped. “Now please go to your room, I will bring you lunch soon.”

For a moment, we wanted to argue. But then Adva gently reminded us that we were walking on thin ice at the moment, so I grudgingly went back to our room and burrowed under the covers.

_We can help,_ I whispered.

_Yes, we can,_ Tiger agreed. _I see why she is resistant to the idea, but we_ can _help._

Adva sighed. _We just need to be patient. Wait it out, hunt for answers. We’ll find something eventually._

Spark was quiet, but I could sense a burning knot of dissatisfaction. Knowing her, she didn’t want to be patient but could see the need for it.

_I don’t like this,_ Ebony muttered. _Mom was acting really strange about Asgore, did you see that? There’s something there she isn’t telling us._

_She called him a coward,_ Tiger remembered.

I hummed thoughtfully. _Do you think they know each other? Or knew, I guess. Since Mom hasn’t left the Ruins in forever._

_Maybe,_ Adva mused. _I guess that would make sense, with how she was talking about him._

_Was Mom important, then? Like government-wise?_

Tiger huffed. _It is probable that she will not give us full and truthful answers should we ask. If she has not mentioned it by now, she likely does not wish to._

_There’s a lot she hasn’t mentioned,_ Ebony pointed out. _She didn’t tell us that Asgore was hunting humans, she didn’t tell us about the war, she didn’t tell us about the barrier, she didn’t tell us humans used to be able to use magic, she didn’t tell us how old she was… heck, she hasn’t even told us that she knows Sans yet! We had to meet him ourselves!_

Spark hummed. _To be fair, we haven’t told her we know Sans yet either._

_That’s not the point!_

_We wouldn’t have responded very well to a lot of that information,_ Adva said gently. _I can see why she kept it from us. It doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, but I can see why._

_I wish she trusted us more,_ I murmured. _And now we’ve messed it all up. We just wanted to help._

Before anyone could respond, the door creaked open.

I stayed perfectly still under the covers, pretending to be asleep.

Mom let out a soft sigh, there was the quiet clink of silverware on china, and the door clicked shut.

After a few more seconds of waiting, I sat up.

There was a slice of cinnamon-butterscotch pie sitting on the floor near our bed. It was steaming slightly, so it must have just come out of the oven. An olive branch.

_Mom’s trying,_ I told the others, sitting down on the floor and starting to eat. _She’s scared, and I don’t think she knows what to do now. But she wants us to be safe._

_We know,_ Adva agreed softly.

We knew. But that didn’t change how we felt.

We were determined to make this right.


	14. Plans and Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The punishment is carried out. Experiments are conducted. Questions are asked and answered.

The two weeks of our grounding passed slowly. The house was fairly small, with no place to run around, so we quickly grew bored. Ebony worried about her combat skills getting rusty, so she started learning how to walk silently just for something to do. Adva managed to find some wire and twist our chunk of Magicite into a pendant. Lira started making up new songs, writing them down in our journal and making up her own system of musical notation. Tiger read every book in the house. And Spark… was quiet. When asked how she was doing, she answered ‘fine’ and changed the subject, but the other four could sense her discontent.

And through it all, Toriel was there. She wasn’t always in the same room with us, but she was never out of earshot. She didn’t even leave to buy groceries; she had evidently asked the Froggits to deliver them, because they appeared on our doorstep on Mom’s regular shopping days.

About a week in, while we were holed up in our bedroom for a modicum of privacy, Spark spoke up.

_I want to try simultaneous control again._

_Any particular reason?_ I asked, shifting around on our bed so our back was against the mattress and our legs were propped against the wall. _Or are we all just that bored?_

She sighed. _Actually, I want to see if Tiger’s theory is right._

_Tiger’s theory? You mean about us working together being more powerful than a single SOUL?_ Adva asked, suddenly interested.

_Yeah._

_I would like to know that as well,_ Tiger piped up. _I would also like to know if all five of us having simultaneous control is even feasible._

Lira hummed in agreement. _That sounds like a good idea._

I shifted again, sitting up cross-legged in the middle of the bed. _Okay, so… how do we do this?_

_Well, the way we did it when we fought Undyne was pretty simple,_ Adva mused. _Don’t back off, but let us come forward if we want to. Then we just sort of… take co-control._

_It’s too complicated to explain it,_ Lira huffed. _Let me try._

_Go for it._

*

Two

*

We took a deep breath. This was… odd. We felt odd.

_How are you doing?_ Adva asked.

_… Weird?_ We flexed our fingers. _Like… I don’t know, we don’t agree but we’re living with it? It’s really hard to explain._

Tiger hummed. _That makes sense. The two of you have the most opposite personalities out of all of us, so it would make sense that you would have a hard time coexisting. It is interesting, however, that from the two instances I have seen, simultaneous control seems to preclude much individuality. The two of you are speaking simultaneously rather than separately, and referring to yourselves as ‘we’ rather than ‘I’._

_We are? That’s weird, we hadn’t noticed. Though I did notice during the fight with Undyne! I didn’t._ We squeezed our eyes shut, trying to ignore a building headache.

_Breathe,_ Adva reminded us gently. _You’re going to be disoriented, and you need to keep thinking and behaving similarly to stay together. Focusing on separate experiences won’t help right now._

We nodded and took a few deep, controlled breaths. We could do this. _We should show Mom!_

_NO._

*

Ebony

*

I rested our head in our hands, trying to calm myself back down, blinking away the headache of shoving Lira away.

_Why not?_ Lira’s voice was small. _I think she’d be happy for us._

_Not yet, Ly,_ Adva told her.

I sighed. _We don’t want her to know we’re thinking about the barrier._

_I guess not…_

_… That may be enough for today,_ Tiger said quietly. _It was a good start. We can keep experimenting when we have moments alone._

We all agreed. This was something that should be done slowly.

~ ~ ~

By the time we were allowed to leave the house, we were all itching to _move._ Trying out different combinations and durations of simultaneous control (Lira had dubbed it ‘fusion’) had helped distract us a little, but the house was tiny. We were thoroughly sick of it by the end of the second week.

Finally, though, Toriel allowed us to leave. We immediately ran outside and wandered the Ruins for hours, stretching our legs and reacquainting ourselves with all the nooks and crannies we liked to visit. We even swung by the spider bake sale, and Lira was so happy to be outside and moving again that she barely complained. Mom had to call us at dinnertime to remind us to get back home.

After the grounding was over, life fell back into something of a routine. We went back to our favorite pastimes – though now we also explored fusion whenever we had some time alone – and Toriel eased up ever so slightly on watching us. She still kept us within earshot at all times when we were in the house, but she let us roam the Ruins mostly unsupervised. We were the model of obedient and well-behaved children… until the first time she left us alone in the house.

~ ~ ~

“I will be back in no more than fifteen minutes,” Toriel told us sternly, pinning us with her patented Mom Glare. “Behave yourselves. Remember that you have not yet earned back my trust.”

I nodded. “We will, Mom. No funny business, we promise.”

She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “I love you, my children. Please do not forget that in the midst of this.”

“We love you too, Mom.”

The door closed behind her, and we were quiet for a moment, relishing the stillness of the house.

_We have the house to ourselves again!!_ Lira cheered. _What should we do?? Jump on our bed? Sing out loud without anyone judging us? Build a blanket fort?_

_… I want to go see if Sans is there,_ I said quietly.

Tiger gasped. _But Adva, what if Mom comes back early and sees us down there? She’ll never trust us again!_

_I know, I know, but I miss him! We haven’t gotten to talk to him for a while, and neither has Mom! I bet he’s worried about us._

Spark was surprisingly on board with the idea. _You’re right, we should talk to him. Let him know we’re all okay._

_Eh, why not?_ Ebony sighed.

With a majority reached, I made my way down the stairs and down the long purple corridor. As I reached the door, I heard a soft, muffled voice on the other side in a cadence I recognized. A grin grew on my face.

**Knock knock**

“Who’s there?” I asked gleefully.

A pause. “Hatch.”

“Hatch who?”

“Gesundheit.”

Lira and I both began to giggle, and I took my usual place leaning against the huge door. “Nice one!”

Sans chuckled, too, but he was more subdued than usual. “Thanks, kid. It’s, uh, been a while.”

“We were basically put on house arrest,” I explained. “Mom was really angry, though I think she was just scared for us. This is the first time she’s left us alone in the house since we got back.”

“So that’s why I haven’t heard from her, either.”

I sighed. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it. ‘M just glad you’re doing okay.”

I reached up and knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?”

“Egg.”

“Egg who?”

“I’m _eggstremely_ disappointed you don’t recognize me!”

Sans laughed; he sounded much happier this time. “That’s a good one!”

We sat there trading jokes for a few minutes, just relaxing and laughing. It felt really good. But then, as I was gearing up for another pun, Spark nudged at me. I was confused – she had never wanted to joke with Sans before – but I let her take over.

*

Spark

*

“Hey, this is kind of off-topic,” I warned Sans, “but I’ve got a question.”

“Go for it, kid.”

“Who besides the Royal Guard is trying to break the barrier?”

For a moment, there was silence. Then Sans chuckled. “Geez, kid, you don’t pull any punches, do you? Who am I talking to right now?”

“Spark.”

“Who says there’s someone else trying to break the barrier?”

“There has to be,” I insisted. “Undyne said getting our SOUL was the Royal Guard’s top priority. If it’s being treated as that important, there have to be other people approaching the problem from different angles.”

He sighed. “There’s a few, yeah. Not a lot of them have the resources to do much, though, and a lot of them would just turn you over to the Guard. But… maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

“Alphys could maybe use your help,” Sans mused. “She’s the royal scientist. We were actually pretty close to her lab when we were in Hotland. You might be able to persuade her to let you help instead of turning you over; she’s a good egg.”

I frowned. “… Why did that have the energy of a pun?”

“You’ll see.”

“ _Anyway,_ the problem is that we can’t exactly go visit her over the weekend,” I grumbled. “Mom won’t let us even _talk_ about the barrier, never mind leave the Ruins to help break it.”

Sans was quiet for a moment. “Kid… I’m not against you trying to help. It’s great that you wanna break the barrier. But… make sure you’ve thought about this, okay? You’re safe where you are. No one’s gonna go looking for you in a place that’s been sealed off. If you leave, you’ll be in danger.”

“I have thought about this,” I said quietly. “It’s the _only_ thing I’ve been able to think about. How can I just _sit_ here when there’s… Sans, I could be _helping._ This isn’t _right,_ and we can help fix it! It’s eating me up inside knowing that we can help and Mom won’t let us!”

_I didn’t realize how much this has been bothering you,_ Adva murmured. _It’s been bugging me too._

Lira sniffled. _I just want everyone to be free. The monsters don’t deserve to be stuck down here._

_Danger smanger,_ Ebony scoffed. _It’s the right thing to do._

Tiger was quiet for a long, long moment. Then she sighed. _I just… I don’t want to hurt Mom again. She will never forgive us if we leave. But… but people are suffering, and… I think my theory has some weight behind it. I don’t think I could forgive myself if we did not at least try._

“We _all_ want to help,” I told Sans. “We want to make this right.”

Suddenly, Lira gasped. _What time is it?_

_Oh no, it has been almost fifteen minutes!_ Tiger realized. _Mom will be home soon!_

“Shoot, we have to go!” I hissed.

“You know where I live,” Sans reminded us. “I can’t help you get out of the Ruins, but I can get you to Alphys. Show up whenever.”

I managed a quick ‘thank you’ before I bolted back down the hallway and up the stairs. We managed to get settled into our armchair with a book before Mom opened the door.

“Hello, my children!” she greeted us. “What are you reading?”

“It’s about the plants that grow in the Ruins,” I told her, trying to sound excited.

She smiled, then glanced at our pendant. “Oh! Spark, I did not realize plants interested you.”

I had forgotten that I couldn’t just pretend to be Tiger anymore. My smile was suddenly a lot harder to keep on my face. “Tiger wanted to read it, and I wanted to be in control for a bit.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I hope you five learned a lot while I was gone!”

“Yeah. We did.” And we had a lot to think about.

~ ~ ~

_Are we really doing this?_ Lira asked that night, as we turned the lights off to go to bed. _Are we really going to leave again?_

I sighed, pulling the blankets up over our head. _We have to, Ly._

_This will break Mom’s heart,_ Tiger whispered.

_I know it will,_ I told her, already feeling guilty. This was going to hurt Mom, and I didn’t want that. _But I can’t stay here in our safe little bubble when people are hurting and we have the ability to help._

_Neither can I,_ Adva put in. _But if we’re going to do this, we’re going to need a plan._

_She is going to know that we have left this time, it will be unavoidable,_ Tiger said quietly. _Therefore we can leave whenever we are given a few minutes in the house alone. A grocery run would be ideal._

_… We aren’t going to be able to come back, are we?_ Lira asked in a very small voice.

That was… something I hadn’t considered. It dawned on all of us that no, we couldn’t come back, or Mom would never let us leave again.

_We’ll have to stock up,_ I said faintly. _Make sure we’re ready and have everything we’ll want. And it’s not forever, anyway; we can come back once the barrier has been broken._

_Yeah. Yeah, we can come back when it’s broken._ We could all tell Lira didn’t quite believe it, but none of us commented.

I took a deep breath. _If we aim for the next grocery run, that gives us six days to prepare. Do you think we can be ready in that time without drawing suspicion?_

_We’ll have to find the key,_ Ebony mused. _Remember, Mom added another lock on the door. She’s not great at hiding things, though, so I bet I can find it._

Adva hummed in agreement. _We can stock up on food at the bake sale, that way Mom won’t notice that we’re gathering supplies._

_Can we take a slice of pie with us?_ Lira asked quietly.

_Of course,_ Adva said gently. _And if we can’t do that without arousing suspicion, we’ll grab it just before we leave._

_Six days, then. Six days to prepare, then we meet up with Sans, go to Alphys’ lab, and break the barrier._

Ebony sighed. _Yeah. We’ve got a lot of work to do._


	15. Departure and Sorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where one door closes, another will open. Our protagonists spend time with friends.

There was a strong sense of déjà vu hanging over us as Mom gave us each a hug goodbye.

“I will be back soon,” she assured us. “Be good, alright?”

“We will.” The words tasted like ash in my mouth.

“I love you, my children.”

This, at least, wasn’t a lie. “We love you too, Mom.”

And then she was gone, and we were alone in the house.

_Okay,_ Adva said crisply. _Last-minute supply check. What do we still need?_

_A slice of pie, the key, that book we saw that might help us, and we need to set out the note,_ Tiger recited.

I let out a shaky breath and headed to the kitchen. There were actually two pies in the fridge – Mom had made cinnamon-butterscotch pie yesterday and snail pie the day before that. I took a slice of each and put them into a Tupperware container. _Eb, you know where the key is, right?_

Ebony snorted. _In her sock drawer, all the way at the back. I told you she isn’t great at hiding things._

Sure enough, when I rifled through the drawer, I found an old, intricate key that matched the new lock on the door out of the Ruins. I also found the book we wanted on Mom’s bookshelf: ‘The Nature of SOULs,’ which we were hoping would be helpful. I carried my armful of supplies back to our bedroom, pulling our backpack out from under our bed.

Our journal and several writing utensils. Several toys. Two changes of clothes, plus an extra t-shirt. Three spider donuts, a jug of spider cider, and our loyal customer card from the bake sale. Our toy knife. 150 gold. The book on SOULs. The key. Two slices of Mom’s pie.

_That should be it,_ I said quietly.

Lira sighed. _I don’t like this. It hurts a lot more than it did last time._

_Because Mom will definitely be back before we are this time,_ Ebony reasoned. _And we_ know _that she’ll be really upset with us._

I bit my lip. _But we have to do this. It’s… This isn’t just trying to make Mom’s life a little easier, this is about doing the right thing and helping_ everyone _down here._

_I know. I just wish it didn’t hurt so much to do it._

_… We need to get moving,_ Ebony said after a moment.

Nodding, I took out the note we’d written last night and hoisted the backpack onto our shoulders. _You’re right, Mom will be back soon._

The note was longer than the last note we’d left. Each of us had written a portion, trying to explain ourselves and apologizing for what we had to do. I had finished the note with a promise to come home when this was all over. I set it on the table, then headed to the top of the stairs.

_Wait,_ Lira murmured.

I paused. _What’s wrong?_

Adva caught on faster than I did. _Ly, this isn’t goodbye forever. We’re going to head to Hotland, break the barrier, and come home to tell Mom the good news. Okay?_

_Yeah,_ Lira said quietly. She sounded distant and sad. _Okay._

With one last backwards glance of my own, I descended the stairs.

~ ~ ~

Snowdin Forest was just as cold as we remembered. I suppressed a shiver as I pulled the door shut behind us; we’d been smart enough to layer up this time, but the transition in temperature was still jarring.

_Do you think Sans will greet us again?_ Adva asked.

_I doubt it,_ Ebony hummed. _He’s really lazy. He’s probably at home right now._

I frowned thoughtfully. _Nah, he’s a sentry, right? I bet he’s at his station._

Tiger huffed a tiny laugh. _Which one?_

_Good question! Place your bets now,_ Adva chuckled.

_Maybe he’s at Grillby’s?_ Lira offered quietly.

_Adva gasped. Oh! Maybe Papyrus will be patrolling today!_

Oh. It hit me that she was trying to distract us and get our minds off what we were actually doing. _Do you think that spaghetti trap of his is still there?_

_… Will I get to solve all the puzzles again?_ Tiger asked hesitantly. _I remember the solutions, but it would be nice to do them again anyway._

_You’ll probably get to solve a few,_ Adva assured her.

I hummed in agreement. _Yeah, not all of them were Papyrus’, remember? Like the spike traps._

We kept chatting as I walked through the forest, making guesses as to what the skeleton brothers were doing. Sans wasn’t at his guard station – Ebony immediately recounted her argument, which sent us off on another round of guessing as to where he was – and the whole forest seemed quieter than it had the last time we’d been through it. Though maybe that was because Papyrus wasn’t there.

The dog guard with the blue attacks was at his post, though; I managed to avoid attracting his attention by inching my way across his field of vision, freezing every time he glanced at us.

_Oh, look!_ Lira gasped as we passed the spot where Sans had put his word search. _The spaghetti is still there!_

There was indeed a plate of spaghetti frozen to the table, though it looked like a different plate, and the note had changed.

_‘Hello fellow members of the Royal Guard!’_ I read in my best Papyrus impression. It got a few snickers. _‘I, the great Papyrus, have cooked some spaghetti for you to enjoy on your patrols! Please feel free to take however much you would like. Nyeh heh heh, Papyrus.’_

_That is so sweet,_ Adva cooed.

Lira hummed thoughtfully. _I wonder if he followed my advice._

_Someone as nice as Papyrus? Absolutely._

_… How did he get the last plate off of the table?_ Tiger asked quietly, her voice full of confusion.

We all burst into laughter. The mental image of Papyrus prying a plate off of the table – or, even better, not having to work that hard at all to pick it up – was for some reason ridiculously funny. Though maybe that was just our anxiety over this whole venture. Even Tiger started giggling after a moment.

I took a deep breath, trying to get my laughter under control. _Oh, thank goodness for Papyrus._

_What would we do without him?_ Adva agreed, still chuckling.

“Heya. What’s all the laughing about?”

I suppressed a yelp and turned around. “Sans! Don’t sneak up on us like that!”

The skeleton shrugged, his grin amused. “I’ll stop doing it when it stops being funny.”

Lira took just enough control to stick our tongue out at him and call him a meanie.

Sans blinked, glancing down at our pendant. “Huh. That crystal really does help. Who was that? And, uh, who is this?”

“I’m Spark,” I told him, “And that was Lira just now. I’m yellow, Lira’s green, Tiger’s blue, Adva’s red, and Ebony’s orange.”

“Cool. I should stop having to ask soon.” Sans stuck his hands in his pockets and started walking toward Snowdin. “C’mon, it’s cold out here.”

I frowned as I followed. “Can you even get cold?”

“Not like you can, but that’s kind of my point. Humans don’t do well in the cold after a while, right?”

“I mean it depends. We layered up, so we should be okay for a while.”

He just hummed. “Wanna take a shortcut?”

“A shortcut? You mean that… bendy thing you did to get us to the Ruins?” Lira had taken the brunt of the disorientation last time, but it had still looked really trippy. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the one in control when he did it again.

“That’s the one.”

Tiger gasped. _I would very much like to take a shortcut!_

_It’s all yours._

*

Tiger

*

“A shortcut sounds like a wonderful idea,” I told him, trying not to sound too excited.

Sans glanced back at us, gaze flicking down to the Magicite pendant, then back to our face. “Tiger, right?”

I nodded.

He held out his arm in a clear invitation. “You get three questions about my shortcuts, choose wisely.”

“Oh! Well, then, let me think.” I got a firm grip on his jacket and braced myself.

Space warped again, light and color smearing past us like a movie in fast forward, and then it was over and we were standing in the skeleton brothers’ living room.

Sans flopped down onto the couch, visibly fatigued.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I asked the question before I could think about it. “Why are you so much more tired when you bring us with you?”

He muttered something about kindness SOULs, then sighed. “You run around a lot, right?”

“Right…” Where was he going with this?

“It’s a lot harder when you’re carrying something heavy, yeah?” He stifled a yawn. “Same principle. Shortcutting on my own is easy, but when I bring somebody else it’s like I’m carrying ‘em.”

That made a lot of sense. It did bring up another point, however. “Does distance affect the strain? You waited until we were past Snowdin to take us back to the Ruins.”

He almost looked surprised. “Huh. You really are a smart one, aren’t you?”

My face flushed and I kept my gaze firmly on the carpet. “W-Well, I. Um.”

“Nothing wrong with being smart,” Sans assured me. “And yeah, distance is a big factor. A few hundred feet is easy, one end of the forest to the other is doable but hard, and Hotland to Snowdin? Forget about it. I’d pass out and shortcut right into a wall or something.”

“Does that mean shortcutting is harder to control when you feel tired or distracted?”

“… Yeah. If I’m not focused on my destination, there’s a lot more leeway in exactly where I end up. Unless I’m familiar with it, in which case I don’t need to focus so much.” He waved a hand at our surroundings. “I could probably shortcut here in my sleep. I think I did, once.”

I chuckled. “That sounds like quite a story.”

“Eh, Paps can tell it better than I can.” Sans winked at us, his grin mischievous. “I was asleep at the time, after all!”

_Where is Papyrus, anyway?_ Ebony wondered.

That was a good question. I carefully sat down on the other end of the sofa. “Speaking of Papyrus, where is he?”

“Training with Undyne. He’ll be back in maybe half an hour. He’ll be glad to see you; I told him you’d be stopping by sometime soon.”

“We missed him,” I hummed, fiddling with our pendant. It had become our go-to object to fidget with in the short time we’d had it. “It will be nice to hang out with him again.”

_Guys?_ Lira said quietly. _I want to tell Papyrus that there are five of us._

We all hesitated for a moment.

_… I would as well,_ I admitted. _He is our friend. I do not want to keep secrets from him._

Spark hummed in agreement. _Yeah. He should know._

_If we didn’t tell him, we’d need to either have one person in control all night or hide the pendant, and I don’t want to hide anything else for a while,_ Adva sighed.

Ebony huffed. _Fine. We can tell him._

That would need to wait, however, as Sans yawned again and leaned his head back. “I’m gonna take a nap. Feel free to join me, or wander, or whatever. If you leave the house Pap will go find you when he gets back.”

“Alright. Have a good nap, Sans,” I told him.

I received a snore in response.

_So what now?_ Lira asked.

_We didn’t get to see a whole lot of Snowdin last time we were here,_ Adva pointed out. _We were just focused on Waterfall._

_… May I go read some of the books in the library?_ I asked tentatively.

Ebony let out a dramatic, exasperated sigh. _Yes, you can go be a nerd._

Leaving our backpack on the floor next to the couch, I headed out into the town. It was bright and cheery, just as it had been last time, and I knew precisely where the library was this time.

“Ah, welcome back!” the librarian greeted us. “If you need any help, just ask!”

“I will, thank you!” I hurried to the shelves and pulled down several volumes that looked interesting, then sat in the corner and began to read.

~ ~ ~

A book and a half later, the door to the library flew open, almost slamming into the wall.

“Aha!!” Papyrus declared, striking a superhero pose in the doorway. “Here you are!! Sans thought you might be here!”

I couldn’t stop a small grin from forming as I stacked my books neatly and stood up. “Papyrus! It is wonderful to see you.”

“Let me help you with those!” Papyrus hurried over and took half of my books, sticking them back on the shelf for me.

“Thank you,” I told him, not pointing out that I could have done it myself. “How was training?”

“Oh it was excellent!! Undyne said I’m improving a lot!!” he said proudly.

I smiled at him. “That is wonderful.”

“Nyeh heh heh!!! It is nothing less than would be expected from the great Papyrus!! Now, it is time for lunch, if you wish to join me and Sans.”

My smile widened. “I would love to.”

Papyrus beamed back at me as he led us outside. “Excellent!! I made spaghetti!!”

_Lira, I believe this may be an ideal time for us to switch,_ I hissed.

_I don’t know what you have against Paps’ spaghetti,_ she grumbled, _but okay._

*

Lira

*

Luckily, Tiger was right (as always); Papyrus didn’t notice the SOUL crystal shift colors. Instead he just led us through town, weaving around people and talking animatedly about his latest pasta creation.

“And I made sure to follow your suggestions this time!!” he told me, ducking around a bunny monster. “I added a lot more spices. And there is no glitter in this batch, unfortunately, since I ran out yesterday. But no matter!! I will buy more tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait to try it!” I was honestly really hungry.

_I don’t think you could pay me enough to eat whatever he’s come up with,_ Ebony muttered.

_Be nice!_ Adva scolded her. _He’s cooking us lunch, and Lira’s willing to eat it, so hush._

I huffed. _We haven’t even seen it yet!_

_Exactly._

“Here we are, at my house!” Papyrus bounced excitedly as we reached the front door, holding it open for us like a proper gentleman. “I am very glad you came back to visit!!”

I giggled. “Of course I did! I missed seeing my favorite skeleton.”

“Aw, kid, I’m not your favorite?” Sans drawled from his spot on the couch. It looked like he’d just woken up.

“’Course you are! You’re both my favorite!”

Sans snorted. “And here I was thinking I was gonna be _bonely_ without any _body_ to be my friend.”

_Repeat after me,_ Adva chuckled. _‘Don’t worry, I’m a really humerus friend to have!’_

“Don’t worry, I’m a really _humerus_ friend to have!” I repeated with a happy bounce.

Sans’ grin widened as Papyrus sighed in exasperation.

We kept bantering as I helped set the table. It was really nice; Ebony and Adva supplied me with witty quips and puns, and I just enjoyed spending time with friends. I felt relaxed for basically the first time all week.

Then, as Papyrus put a big plate of pasta on the table, he finally noticed our pendant.

“Human… wasn’t your necklace a different color earlier?” he asked, face scrunched in confusion. “It was blue at the library, and now it is green.”

I took a deep breath. Moment of truth, perfect opportunity, we could do this. “Um. Yes. Yes it was.”

Papyrus frowned. “I have never heard of a color-changing necklace before.”

“No, we made this one.” I started to fidget with it. “It’s, um, made of SOUL crystal, so it changes color depending on who’s holding it.”

“But… you’ve been holding it the whole time, haven’t you?”

“Yes and no? Um… Sorry, I’m not usually the one who does this.” I took a few steadying breaths, letting them out slowly. “Basically, I’m not alone in here. There’s five of us. It was blue earlier because Tiger was in control, and now it’s green because I’m in charge.”

Papyrus was quiet for a long, terrifying moment, just looking at us with a calculating expression. Then, finally, he spoke up. “So… what you are saying is… I made five friends for the price of one!!”

We were almost instantly wrapped in a tight hug, our feet dangling a few inches off the ground.

“Oh I am so excited!!” Papyrus gushed. “I will have to get to know each one of you better, I am sorry that I have not been trying to do that before!! And I am so glad you told me!!!”

I laughed, hugging him back. “I’m glad too!”

“Sans!” Papyrus set us down and turned to his brother, bouncing excitedly. “Did you hear that?? I have _five_ friends instead of one!!”

“I heard, bro,” Sans chuckled. “That’s awesome.”

“Tiger will want to talk puzzles with you later,” I informed Papyrus, sitting down at the table. “She’s the one who was solving them all when we came to Snowdin last time. But food first!”

Papyrus nodded and sat down as well. “Food first.”

“… So you’ll be discussing puzzle _pasta_ bilities?”

“SANS!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter did NOT want to be written! It fought me the whole time I was working on it. Hopefully the next one will cooperate better!


	16. Heat and Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our protagonists journey again to Hotland. Several offers are made.

I took a deep breath as I stepped into the Riverperson’s boat.

“Tra la la. Where would you like to go?” they hummed.

“Hotland,” Sans told them, getting into the boat after us.

They nodded serenely and the boat began to glide down the river.

“You doing okay, kid?” Sans asked us, sitting down on the bottom of the boat. He did it with casual ease, but I recognized it as an out for us to sit down and relax. Sneaky.

I nodded as I sat down as well. “Just a little nervous. Our last time in Hotland didn’t go so well, and we’re going to talk to the literal royal scientist, who by rights should want us dead as badly as Undyne does.”

“Nah, Alphys is cool. And not great in a fight,” Sans chuckled. “Besides, I’m here to help. It’s gonna be fine.”

I nodded, though my heart wasn’t in it. A day with Papyrus – plus another sleepover – had been a great distraction, and it had been good for all of us, but now I was again feeling the weight of our decisions. “Sans… Why is doing the right thing so hard sometimes?”

Sans grimaced. “Yeesh, kid. You don’t ask easy questions, do you?”

“Not when there are more important ones, no.”

 _You aren’t doing this alone, Spark,_ Adva reminded me quietly. _We’re here with you._

_I know. And I couldn’t be more grateful for that._

“Well…” Sans sighed. “I guess doing the wrong thing doesn’t usually take a lot of effort. You let things happen, you keep the old plan, stuff like that. The right thing, though, you always have to be working for it. Asking if there’s a better way, a safer way. And usually it involves a lot of change. Not a lot of people like change.”

I hummed. “Change is good, though. Falling down here was a change, and we don’t regret it one bit.”

“Leaving the Ruins this last time was a change,” he reminded us gently.

“Yeah. And it was the right thing to do.” Of that I was absolutely certain. It had helped during this past week to hold on to that certainty; this was _right,_ and so long as I was doing the right thing, I could grit my teeth and bear the weight of our choices.

Sans nodded. “Yeah. I think you’re right. Just… remember that what you want is important too, kid. Not everything has to be for the good of all monsters.”

“I want to help,” I insisted.

“I know you do. Just don’t work yourselves too hard, alright?”

I sighed, then nodded. “Fine.”

We were quiet for a while, watching the tunnel change and listening to the river lap against the banks and the boat. Then we slowed, and the Riverperson hummed again.

“Tra la la. Come again sometime.”

I nodded our thanks as Sans and I got out of the boat.

“This way,” Sans told me, sticking his hands in his pockets and heading toward a set of stairs. I vaguely remembered the stairs; I had been a little high on adrenaline last time we’d been here.

“So what’s Alphys like?” I asked, fishing for something to keep myself occupied.

Sans shrugged. “Eh, she likes animated human TV stuff. Anime, I think it’s called.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “What.”

“What?” he asked, turning back to us.

“The _royal scientist._ Employed by the king. Working to liberate her entire race. Is obsessed with _anime._ ”

“Yeah, why?”

I just sort of stared at him. “… Please tell me she at least has good taste.” 

He shrugged again and kept walking. “I wouldn’t know, she’s only forced me to watch it a few times. Mostly ‘cause I always fall asleep a few minutes in.”

 _Why anime?_ Adva asked as I followed, sounding as confused as I felt.

 _I knew she was a nerd, I didn’t realize she’d be into anime too,_ Ebony grumbled. _I’m going to hate her, I just know it._

Tiger chuckled. _You get along with me just fine, and you call me a nerd almost daily._

_That’s different, though._

_What other stuff do you think she likes?_ Lira mused.

I huffed. _We’ll find out soon, I guess._

A large white building loomed above us as we turned a corner, a large sign reading ‘Lab’ hanging above the door. It looked very official and very imposing.

“That’s it?” I murmured, staring up at the lab. “It’s… bigger than I was expecting.”

“The royal scientists have needed a lot of space over the years,” Sans told us, shrugging.

I frowned. “Space to do what?”

“To build the CORE, for starters. That’s where all our power comes from. They needed a lot of testing room while it was being built.”

I bit back our flood of questions – what’s the CORE like, how do you know that, who else has been the royal scientist? – as Sans knocked on the door of the lab.

After a moment, the door slid open automatically.

Sans sighed as he walked in. “See, this is why I don’t practice knock-knock jokes here.”

The lab was dark. Really dark. There was almost no light in here except for a massive screen on one wall, showing… us?

I shuddered. The image on screen shuddered too.

“Pretty creepy, huh?” Sans chuckled, continuing forward past the screen. “Alphys has a whole network of cameras set up across the underground. It’s a little disconcerting seeing yourself on a big screen.”

“Yeah…” I muttered.

 _Say the word and I take over,_ Ebony murmured.

_Thanks, Eb._

Suddenly, the lights flickered on.

“Oh. My gosh.”

I turned to see a small, yellow dinosaur monster in a lab coat shuffling nervously. She was wearing glasses.

“I-I didn’t expect you to show up so soon!” she fretted, wringing her hands. “I haven’t showered, I’m barely dressed, it’s all messy -…”

“Hey Alphys,” Sans interrupted calmly.

She paused for a moment, blinked at him, then frowned. “Sans? W-What are you doing here?”

He shrugged. “I’m helping the kid. She wanted to talk to you.”

Alphys turned back to me, a confused expression on her face. “O-Oh? Really?”

I nodded, feeling a surge of nervousness. This was it. “Yeah. I want to help break the barrier.”

For a moment, Alphys just stared at me. “You… what?”

“I want to help break the barrier,” I repeated. “I’m not on board with the whole murdering me thing, obviously, and Sans said you were working on the problem too.”

“O-Oh? Did he?” Alphys seemed to be getting more and more stressed out the longer we talked; her fidgeting was getting faster and more pronounced.

“Are you… not? Doing that?” I asked cautiously.

She rapidly shook her head. “Oh, no, I am! That’s, um. My job. And I-I’m glad you want to help! That’s just not something I’ve ever seen a human do before, is all.”

“Have you met many humans?” The question left my mouth before I could stop it.

Alphys went a funny shade of yellow-green. “Um. Actually no. This is the first time I’ve come face-to-face with a human.”

For some reason, that actually made me feel a bit better. Alphys wasn’t directly involved with the human-murder spree. “Well, I hope I’m not too underwhelming.”

“Oh no!! No you’re not at all!!” she squeaked. “Um, well, I, um. I’ve been… sort of watching you ever since you left the Ruins the first time.”

 _Oh HELL no!_ Ebony hissed.

 _I’ve got this, Eb,_ I whispered, then said out loud, “Watching me? That’s kind of creepy, not gonna lie.”

That yellow-green color darkened, and I realized she was probably blushing. “W-Well yes, I suppose it is a little bit but it’s part of my job!! A-And watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them. So what I’m trying to say is, I’d be glad to work with you! Your insight could prove very useful.”

I almost sagged with relief. “Oh! Good! That’s great, I’m glad.”

The moment stretched. Neither of us were sure what to say next, and the silence grew long enough to be uncomfortable.

“Welp, I’m headed back to Snowdin.” Thank _goodness_ for Sans. “You gonna come with, kid, or are you and Alphys going to talk about the barrier for a bit?”

I looked to Alphys. “Do you need my help right now, or…?”

“Oh! N-no, no, y-you can go! I don’t want to keep you,” Alphys said nervously. “Maybe you could come by in a few days? I have a few things to, um. To get in order first.”

 _That’s a bit nonspecific,_ Ebony hummed, but I ignored her.

“Yeah, absolutely. Nice to meet you.”

“N-Nice to meet you too!”

Sans and I left the lab, and I let out a sigh as soon as the door shut behind us. “Oh thank goodness that’s over.”

“Not _egg_ -cellent conversationalists, either of you,” Sans noted with a wink.

It took a second, but then the pun registered and I groaned. “She’s a _reptile,_ _that’s_ why you made an egg pun earlier!”

“Yup.”

 _Egg-straordinary foreshadowing,_ Adva chuckled.

_Not you too!_

“Seriously though, kid, that went pretty well, all things considered.” Sans stuck his hands back in his pockets as he strolled toward the Riverperson. “Do you know what you’re going to do now?”

What we were going to do now? It hit me like a bucket of ice water that we hadn’t actually planned out this far. “Um.”

 _He’s right. We have a few days to kill and nowhere to stay,_ Adva realized.

 _And it’s not like we’ll get the barrier broken in a day,_ Ebony pointed out. _This will take time._

Tiger let out a distressed whine. _We were so focused on leaving the Ruins, we forgot about everything else!_

Sans seemed to notice our growing panic. “You can stay with Papyrus and me, I’m sure Paps will be ecstatic.”

I nodded, trying desperately to keep all of us from spiraling. “I’m sure he will.”

 _Spark?_ Lira said quietly. _I’d like to take over for a second._

_Sure thing._

*

Lira

*

Before Sans could head down the stairs to the Riverperson, I pulled him into a quick hug. Just like before, he froze for a second before returning it, though he was quicker to relax this time.

“Thank you,” I murmured into his jacket. “For everything.”

He chuckled. “No problem, kid. Now let’s head home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is in full swing for me, so chapters are probably going to be much further apart for a while. I hope you enjoy this one, though!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, have a great day!


End file.
